TEHRAN, Dec 28: Iran said on Wednesday it would ‘seriously and enthusiastically’ study a Russian proposal aimed at reducing international fears about its nuclear programme.

The remarks by Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, were the most positive yet by a senior Tehran official about Moscow’s offer to form a joint venture with Iran to enrich uranium in Russia.

The Russian offer is backed by the United States and EU.

The Russian plan is aimed at easing international concerns that Tehran could make atom bombs from highly enriched uranium.

Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to a low-grade, suitable for use in nuclear power reactors.

The Russian proposal ‘will be reviewed seriously and enthusiastically’, Vaeedi told ISNA.

“In our opinion the Russian proposal could revive some of the unimplemented regulations of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for transferring nuclear technology to countries which do not have access to this technology and break the scientific monopoly of this issue,” he said.—Reuters