Iran's Foreign Minister Manounchehr Mottaki said Saturday that his government has set 1st February 2010 as the deadline for the western nations to accept its counter proposal to a UN-proposed deal aimed at easing international concerns over Teheran's disputed nuclear program.
"This is an ultimatum," Mottaki was quoted as saying by state-run news agencies on Saturday. "The international community has only one more month to make a decision. Otherwise, Tehran will enrich uranium to the higher purity needed for the fuel."
Without giving the details of Iran's counter proposal to the UN-proposed nuclear deal, Mottaki warned that his government would "officially" launch a nuclear program to produce 20% enrich uranium it requires to run its medical research facility in Tehran if the west fails to accept the counter proposal by the set deadline.
Mottaki's remarks came amidst rising tensions over Iran's refusal to accept a UN-proposed nuclear deal for easing international concerns over Teheran's nuclear program. The deal was proposed in October by the then International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
ElBaradei proposed the deal after three days of intense negotiations at an IAEA-hosted meeting involving diplomats from the U.S., France, Russia and Iran in Vienna. Except for Iran, all the other nations involved in the negotiations have accepted the proposed plan.
The IAEA-proposed plan envisaged shipping low-enriched Iranian uranium to Russia for further enrichment and then to France for conversion into actual fuel for Teheran's medical-purpose reactor that makes isotopes.
The proposed deal was seen as an amicable solution to the issue, as it would provide Iran the nuclear fuel it requires to run its research reactor while guaranteeing the West that Tehran will not have enough nuclear material to convert into finer-grade uranium required for making nuclear weapons.
The Vienna negotiations essentially sought to advance agreements reached at previous negotiations between Iranian officials and representatives of Great Britain, China, Russia, the U.S., France and Germany in Geneva early October. The six world powers had given Iran until the end of 2009 to accept the UN-proposed nuclear deal.
Iran had agreed at the Geneva talks to allow officials from the IAEA to visit and inspect its recently revealed second uranium-enrichment facility. It also agreed in principle to transport some of the low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to a third country for further enrichment and transformation into fuel for use in the Tehran research reactor.
Following the Geneva talks, Iran allowed IAEA inspectors to its Fordo nuclear plant near the city of Qom, but rejected part of the deal that requires shipment of its low-enriched uranium to foreign countries for further enrichment. Iran, however, indicated that it would instead consider exchanging uranium for nuclear fuel if carried out inside the country. The other nations involved in the talks, however, have rejected the Iranian demand.
Following Iran's refusal to accept the UN-proposed deal, Western nations in the five-member permanent UN Security Council threatened to impose further sanctions on Iran over its continued defiance of international concerns related to its disputed nuclear program. China and Russia, the other two members of the Council, however, has called for more restraint and patience.
Though Iran says its nuclear program is intended for peaceful civilian power generation purposes only, the West believes Teheran's claims are just a cover-up for its nuclear weapon ambitions. Iran has already survived three sets of sanctions imposed on it by the UN Security Council following refusal to halt its nuclear development work.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.