"I don't think that is an option. The whole purpose of the deal is to defuse the crisis," ElBaradei told reporters, referring to a deal he had brokered on the supply of nuclear fuel to a research reactor in Tehran.

Iran and world powers have been at loggerheads for weeks, failing to reach a nuclear fuel deal aimed at allaying Western concerns over Tehran's nuclear programme.

The West, led by Washington, fears Iran might otherwise covertly divert its low-enriched uranium for further enrichment to the much higher levels required for a bomb, an ambition Iranian officials strongly deny.

In a deal brokered last month by ElBaradei himself, Iran was offered to ship out most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium for further processing by Russia and France so that it can be turned into the fuel needed for the research reactor, which makes radio-isotopes for medical use.

Uranium enrichment is at the heart of the long-running standoff over Iran's nuclear activities, because the material can be used to power nuclear reactors as well as to make the core of an atom bomb.

But Iran is reluctant to let go of its uranium, insisting on a "100 percent guarantee" that it would in fact receive the fuel required for its research reactor.

"One of the guarantees is a simultaneous exchange of fuel inside the country," said Tehran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, ElBaradei pointed out that there were "a number of built-in guarantees in the agreement".

The International Atomic Energy Agency "will take custody and control of the material. We've offered also to have the material in Turkey, a country which has the trust of all the parties," he said.

"But you need to move the material from Iran to defuse the crisis and open the space for negotiation. So, what we are asking Iran is to take a minimum risk for peace and to have an agreement not based on distrust but based on trust."

Asked what other possible guarantees could assuage Iran's concerns, ElBaradei replied: "I am open to hear from them what other additional guarantees they would like to have. I don't see frankly what more guarantees we can provide."

And he continued: "However, I am open if they have any additional guarantees that do not involve keeping the material in Iran, because keeping the material in Iran will not lead to what we want to do: defuse the crisis and open the door for broad negotiation."

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