Davutoglu: "Getting out of Iran row without harm is the heart of the matter"

Turkey cannot approve a new package of sanctions on Iran without knowing the package's content, and other measures have yet to be exhausted, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a visit to Brazil late last week. "To pave the way out of this process without causing any unwanted development or sanction – this is the heart of the matter," Davutoglu told reporters. Davutoglu, who visited Brazil after wrapping up his talks with senior US officials in Washington, will pay a visit to Tehran later this week. While in Tehran, he will discuss the international community's current mood regarding Iran's nuclear program, Davutoglu said. Reiterating that sanctions on Iran could make neighboring Turkey pay a steep price, Davutoglu said, "For us, accepting the sanctions beforehand is out of the question. We should first of all be able to see the full picture. All diplomatic efforts need to be exhausted. These efforts have not been exhausted yet. After these efforts are exhausted, the action to be taken should be discussed once again by all members of the UN Security Council." Turkey currently holds a temporary seat on the council. Ankara and Brasilia, with their reluctance to back the US push for new sanctions, are studying an alternative proposal to deal with Iran's controversial nuclear program. "We know how we previously suffered due to sanctions against Iraq," he said. "After going through such an experience, it is clear that a sanction package regarding Iran or any of our neighbors will not be in line with our foreign policy." In Brazil, Davutoglu spoke with his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim. Regarding the two countries' cooperation on the Iran issue, Davutoglu later told reporters they were trying to make up for lack of dialogue between the P5+1 and Iran. For his part, Amorim said he had followed the Iraq case closely and saw that sanctions against Iraq yielded no results. Davutoglu also met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacia Lula da Silva.