At the United Nations this week, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner asserted that the Obama administration sought to send nuclear fuel to Iran. But a senior Obama administration official says that the fuel swap story is old news and was a “confidence building” gesture.
“As we said publicly in 2010, the P5+1 group made a proposal at that time to Iran involving various confidence-building measures to resolve the international community's concerns over Iran's nuclear program,” the senior administration official told TheBlaze.
President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner addresses the United Nations General Assembly Sept. 28, 2015, in New York. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)
The P5+1 negotiations with Iran involved the U.S., Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
“This proposal included various ideas about the provision of fuel to Iran for its Tehran Research Reactor. Iran did not respond to the proposal, so it was never acted on. I don't have any further details to share,” the administration official continued.
At the U.N. General Assembly, the Argentine president said that Gary Samore, former White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction, visited Argentina and suggested the nation provide Iran with nuclear fuel in 2010.
Samore told TheBlaze Wednesday he made the trip to Argentina to propose a fuel swap.
