U.S. says can give Iran time to okay nuclear deal

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States is willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept a U.N.-brokered deal meant to allay suspicions it is after atomic bombs but which has drawn Iranian objections, a U.S. diplomat said Monday.

The plan for Iran to part with stocks of potential nuclear explosive material in exchange for fuel to keep a nuclear medicine facility running has stumbled on Iranian calls for amendments and more talks, which Washington has rejected.

Addressing Iran's misgivings over sending low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad before it gets reactor fuel in return, the U.N. nuclear agency chief has suggested Iran place the LEU in a friendly third country like Turkey, pending arrival of the fuel.

Iranian and Turkish officials discussed the idea Monday on the sidelines of an Islamic states conference in Istanbul attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Turkish officials said. They did not elaborate.

Turkey, with good ties to neighbor Iran, has said it is willing to mediate in Tehran's long standoff with Western powers over its disputed nuclear energy program.

A senior Iranian official has dismissed the idea of Iran parking its LEU in a third country.

But Tehran has yet to give a full, official reply on the proposal drafted by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei three weeks ago after consultations with Iran, France, Russia and the United States.

"There have been communications back and forth. We are in extra innings in these negotiations. That's sometimes the way these things go," said Glyn Davies, U.S. ambassador to the IAEA.