Moscow reiterated on Wednesday the international proposals to Iran on its nuclear program were still valid despite Tehran's recent uranium enrichment to 19.75% purity.

Russia, the United States and France recently sent a letter to Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), clarifying the three governments' positions on Iran's uranium enrichment.

"The start of this work in Iran does not mean that the three parties will reconsider their proposals. And we are ready to return to them if Iran finds this possible," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

Iran started the production of 20% enriched uranium last Tuesday in the presence of the head of Iran's nuclear agency and IAEA officials. The country's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi pledged earlier that Iran would use enriched uranium to produce nuclear fuel solely for domestic purposes.

The Russian diplomat expressed hope that Iran would "understand and accept the attractiveness" of the October 2009 scheme and that things would evolve "towards a compromise."

Under a plan drawn up last October by the UN nuclear watchdog and approved by the Iran Six, the Islamic Republic was to ship out its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment and subsequently send it to France where it would be made into fuel rods.

Tehran stalled and then rejected the plan, suggesting it could consider a simultaneous swap of its low-enriched uranium for 20%-enriched uranium, but that the exchange should be simultaneous and would have to take place on its own territory.

"We would like to hope that [a response] would follow," Ryabkov said.

On Monday, Salehi said Tehran would only halt 20% uranium enrichment, which he said last week was going "very well," if the Iran Six countries - which also include China, Britain and Germany - agree to Iran's terms for providing it with enriched uranium for its Tehran reactor.

"Iran will halt its enrichment only if these countries accept Iran's conditions on a nuclear swap," he said.

MOSCOW, February 17 (RIA Novosti)