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PARIS (Reuters) - A French plant that produces a quarter of the world's enriched uranium is 10 percent owned by Iran, which has had the stake for more than 30 years, nuclear reactor maker Areva said on Tuesday.

Confirming a press report in a French satirical weekly, state-controlled Areva said it owned the remainder of the Eurodif plant, which was commissioned in the early 1970s.

The weekly Le Canard Enchaine said in its edition to be published on Wednesday that the Shah of Iran struck a deal in the early 1970s when the country was turning toward nuclear energy to cut dependence on its oil production.

"Iran has never received a single gram of enriched uranium from France," an Areva spokeswoman said.

"Iran is a sleeping partner in Eurodif," she said, adding there had been no technology transfers to the countr... >>>