Iran agrees swap deal for uranium with Turkey
Source: Agencies |
May 18, 2010, Tuesday
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IRAN agreed yesterday to ship most of its enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the standoff over the country's disputed nuclear program and deflate a United States-led push for tougher sanctions.
The deal was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, elevating a new group of mediators for the first time in the dispute over Iran's nuclear activities. The agreement was nearly identical to a UN-drafted plan that Washington and its allies have been pressing Tehran for the past six months to accept in order to deprive Iran of enough stocks of enriched uranium to produce a nuclear weapon.
The heart of the deal is a swap in which Iran would send abroad most of its low-enriched uranium and in return get fuel rods of medium-enriched uranium to use in a Tehran medical research reactor that produces isotopes for cancer treatment.
"It was agreed during the trilateral meeting of Iranian, Turkish and Brazilian leaders that Turkey will be the venue for swapping" Iran's stocks of enriched uranium for fuel rods, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on state TV.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the deal meant Iran was willing to "open a constructive road."
"There is no ground left for more sanctions or pressure," he told reporters in Iran, according to Turkey's private NTV television.
Yesterday's deal was announced after talks between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.
The main difference from the UN-drafted version is that if Iran does not get the fuel rods within a year, Turkey will be required to "immediately and unconditionally" return the uranium to Iran.
Iran feared that under the initial UN deal, if a swap fell through, its uranium stock could be seized permanently.
The process would begin one month after a final agreement is signed between Iran and its main negotiating partners, including the US and the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of financial sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. The process is key to concerns over its program, because it can produce either low-enriched uranium needed to fuel a nuclear reactor or the highly enriched uranium needed to build a warhead. Iran says its program is entirely peaceful and says it has a right to enrich uranium for reactor fuel.
Under the agreement, Iran will ship most of its enriched uranium - about 1,200 kilograms - to Turkey to be kept under UN and Iranian supervision. In return, it will get fuel rods containing uranium enriched to higher levels needed for the research reactor, Mehmanparast said.
The deal was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, elevating a new group of mediators for the first time in the dispute over Iran's nuclear activities. The agreement was nearly identical to a UN-drafted plan that Washington and its allies have been pressing Tehran for the past six months to accept in order to deprive Iran of enough stocks of enriched uranium to produce a nuclear weapon.
The heart of the deal is a swap in which Iran would send abroad most of its low-enriched uranium and in return get fuel rods of medium-enriched uranium to use in a Tehran medical research reactor that produces isotopes for cancer treatment.
"It was agreed during the trilateral meeting of Iranian, Turkish and Brazilian leaders that Turkey will be the venue for swapping" Iran's stocks of enriched uranium for fuel rods, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on state TV.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the deal meant Iran was willing to "open a constructive road."
"There is no ground left for more sanctions or pressure," he told reporters in Iran, according to Turkey's private NTV television.
Yesterday's deal was announced after talks between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.
The main difference from the UN-drafted version is that if Iran does not get the fuel rods within a year, Turkey will be required to "immediately and unconditionally" return the uranium to Iran.
Iran feared that under the initial UN deal, if a swap fell through, its uranium stock could be seized permanently.
The process would begin one month after a final agreement is signed between Iran and its main negotiating partners, including the US and the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of financial sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. The process is key to concerns over its program, because it can produce either low-enriched uranium needed to fuel a nuclear reactor or the highly enriched uranium needed to build a warhead. Iran says its program is entirely peaceful and says it has a right to enrich uranium for reactor fuel.
Under the agreement, Iran will ship most of its enriched uranium - about 1,200 kilograms - to Turkey to be kept under UN and Iranian supervision. In return, it will get fuel rods containing uranium enriched to higher levels needed for the research reactor, Mehmanparast said.
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