Moscow would welcome Iranian acceptance of an initial U.N.-brokered offer in October last year, to send uranium abroad for enrichment, Lavrov said at a joint briefing with Norway´s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Tehran was ready to send uranium abroad in exchange for nuclear fuel.

Iran so far has not officially responded to the deal. Instead, it demanded a simultaneous exchange between low and higher level enriched uranium inside the country.

The United States and its Western allies have been accusing Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of a civilian program. Iran has denied the accusation and stressed its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.