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Tehran, Iran (CNN) — Iran has sent an “initial response” to a proposal designed to break the deadlock over its nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday.

The IAEA did not say what Iran’s response was.

The deal could reduce the amount of material Iran has to make a nuclear bomb. The United States and its allies fear Tehran’s goal is to make a bomb. Iran denies it.

Under the proposal, Iran would send low-enriched uranium abroad to be turned into material for use in medical research and treatment at a reactor in Tehran.

Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a rare conciliatory note Thursday, saying that the Islamic republic was ready for nuclear cooperation with Western powers.

Ahmadinejad, speaking to crowds in the northeastern city of Mashhad, said the West has gone from “confrontation to cooperation,” according to state-run Press TV, and praised the IAEA as “playing a genuine role.”

“One, they told us to stop (nuclear work,)” he said. “Now they express readiness to cooperate with us in exchange of fuel, expansion of the technology and construction of power plants and atomic reactors.”

He said his nation is ready to talk with the United States and its allies in developing Iran’s nuclear program, and he described a current draft proposal as a “victory” for Iran.

A formal response to the proposal is expected from Tehran on Friday. If accepted, it could help quell the international showdown over Iran’s nuclear activities.