TEHRAN, Oct 14: Iran said on Saturday a year-old offer from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for foreign countries to handle its uranium enrichment activities still stands as a way to break the deadlock over its nuclear programme.

Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseni also said a suggestion made by Iran earlier this month for a French led-consortium to enrich uranium for Iran on Iranian soil remained “appropriate”.

His comments come as the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany discuss imposing sanctions against Iran over its failure to halt enrichment, which the West fears could be diverted to making a nuclear bomb.

“Mr Ahmadinejad in his speech last year to the UN General Assembly proposed that other countries participate in the uranium enrichment and this proposal still stands,” Mr Hosseini said, according to the website of state broadcaster IRIB.

Mr Ahmadinejad had proposed in that speech to “engage in serious partnership with private and public sectors of other countries in the implementation of the uranium enrichment programme in Iran.”

His idea was revived earlier this month when a top Iranian nuclear official said France should form a consortium that would manufacture uranium on Iranian soil and thus break the deadlock.

However on both occasions the idea has met with a cool reception from Western powers.

Mr Hosseini described the moves to impose sanctions against Iran as “psychological warfare”.—AFP