Iran, Brazil, Turkey sign nuclear swap deal

Ahmadinejad calls for fresh nuclear talks with big powers:

IRAN: Iran, Brazil and Turkey signed an agreement on Monday over a nuclear fuel swap designed to allay international concern over the Islamic Republic’s atomic ambitions and avert fresh sanctions on Tehran.

Iran said it had agreed to swap 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium for higher-enriched nuclear fuel, to be used in a medical research reactor. The exchange would take place in Turkey, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

Iran, which rejects Western accusations it is seeking to develop nuclear bombs, had earlier insisted such a swap must take place on its territory.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on six world powers, which have been discussing further U.N. sanctions on the major oil producer, for fresh talks on Iran’s nuclear programme after the fuel exchange agreement.

“Following the signing of the nuclear fuel swap deal, it is time for 5+1 countries to enter talks with Iran based on honesty, justice and mutual respect,” Ahmadinejad said, referring to the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany.

There was no immediate comment from Washington, which has been leading a Western push to impose additional punitive measures on Tehran.

Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, had offered to mediate to find a resolution to the impasse.

It was seen as the last chance to avoid a fourth round of U.N. sanctions. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan discussed the deal with Ahmadinejad in Tehran, Iranian media reported.

“The swap will take place in Turkey,” Mehmanparast told reporters, shortly before the agreement was signed by ministers in front of reporters.

Mehmanparast said Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Turkey within a month and that it would be under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear agency, state Press TV reported. Major world powers had urged Iran to accept a months-old International Atomic Energy Agency plan to ship 1,200 kg (2,646 lb) of its low-enriched uranium — enough for a single bomb if purified to a high enough level — abroad for transformation into fuel for a medical research reactor.

The proposal, backed by the United States, Russia and France, was aimed at giving time for diplomatic talks with Iran. Tehran agreed in principle to the deal in October but then demanded changes such as a simultaneous swap on Iranian soil, conditions other parties in the deal said were unacceptable.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Turkey would be obliged to return Iran’s LEU “immediately and unconditionally” if Monday’s agreement between Iran, Brazil and Turkey was not implemented.

Tehran, Reuters