International negotiators softened Western positions on Iran's nuclear program in a February round of talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The P5+1 negotiating partners proposed that Iran could keep enough 20 percent enriched uranium to fuel a research reactor - a step back from an earlier proposal that Iran's entire stock of 20% uranium be shipped out of the country. The P5+1 also proposed that enrichment activities at the fortified underground Fordow facility be suspended; an earlier proposal had called for Fordow to be shut down. In return, sanctions on gold, precious metals and petrochemicals would be eased.