After representatives from the six major powers involved in nuclear talks with Iran complained about a "no follow-up" from Tehran on a nuclear proposal, Iran says it is the P5+1 that is not ready to resume negotiations.

Addressing university students on Monday, Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Baqeri said Iran welcomes the proposal for more nuclear talks, insisting that the country's nuclear officials are ready to continue negotiations "based on Iran's own package of nuclear proposals."

"Despite [Javier] Solana's expression of readiness for more talks relayed to [Saeed] Jalili on October 18 and an agreement reached during talks in Geneva, currently the other side is not ready for talks," Baqeri said.

The Supreme National Security Council deputy secretary for foreign policy said the matter was due to internal disagreements, explaining that "the P5+1 Friday meeting in Brussels confirmed that the other side is not capable of reaching a final decision [on the matter]."

This comes as the P5+1 said earlier on Friday that Iran has so far failed to respond "positively" to a proposal put forward by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which aims to resolve Iran's long-standing nuclear issue.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the P5+1 said "We are disappointed by the lack of follow-up" from the Iranian side on the features of the draft agreement discussed earlier in Geneva on Oct. 19.

Moving to a question regarding the supply of nuclear fuel to Iran, Baqeri said Tehran's research reactor has run out of fuel after years of operation and therefore Iranian nuclear officials called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to provide the required fuel for the medical reactor.

"The agency referred Iran's request to various countries, and Russia and the US have so far expressed readiness to provide the fuel," he explained.

However, the Iranian National Security official went on to warn that should the IAEA fail to provide Iran's needed fuel, the country would move to enrich uranium to a level of 20 percent on its own.

"Based on legal terms, we have no problem to obtain the fuel for the Tehran reactor as enrichment to a level of more than 5 percent or 20 percent is not prohibited to be carried out by different countries [NPT signatories]," he said.

"If the uranium for the Tehran reactor is not provided via the IAEA, then we will move to obtain it at home," said Baqeri, who is a deputy to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Jalili.

The remarks come as nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West have yet to yield a definite result.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki made an official statement on Wednesday about a proposal put forward to the Tehran government by the major powers in Geneva on October 19. The proposal suggests that Iran sends the bulk of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) stockpile out of the country in exchange for metal fuel rods for its Tehran medical research reactor.

Iran has said that it would accept the essential elements of the international proposal but also seeks modifications to the formula.

Mottaki explained Iran's stance on the proposal, saying that the country's enriched uranium supply would not be sent out of its borders in exchange for fuel rods fitted for the Tehran medical reactor.

Arguing that a guarantee for the fuel supply is the core concern for Tehran, the Iranian minister said while the Islamic Republic's first option is to domestically enrich uranium to a level of 20 percent, its second option would be to buy the 20-percent-enriched uranium.

He added that the Tehran government would also consider an option to exchange, in a simultaneous swap, the agreed amount of its LEU with its needed fuel on its own territory.

Baqeri reiterated the Iranian foreign minister's stance on the issue, explaining that "We basically have no problem with the IAEA plan but just want the swap of LEU with fuel on Iranian soil so that we are reassured that the deal is fully realized."

CS/HGH