Erdogan urges world leaders to seize opportunity to solve Iranian nuke issue

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday held separate phone conversations with US President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, telling them about the details of a nuclear fuel swap deal that Iran agreed to sign earlier this week under Turkish and Brazilian mediation. Iran agreed on Monday with Brazil and Turkey, two non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, to send some of its uranium abroad, reviving a fuel swap plan drafted by the United Nations with the aim of keeping Iran's nuclear activities in check. Erdogan first talked with Putin, saying that the joint declaration released by Turkey, Iran and Brazil in Tehran was a victory for diplomacy and dialogue. Stating that the agreement was a first step towards fully solving the Iranian nuclear issue, Erdogan urged the international community to seize this opportunity. In response, Putin said his country appreciates Turkey and Brazil’s efforts to find a peaceful solution to the issue. These efforts made significant contribution to diplomacy with regard to this matter, Putin said, adding that during the ongoing talks at the UN Security Council on Iran, they would take into consideration what he called additional opportunities created by Turkey’s diplomatic efforts. In an hour-long phone conversation with Obama later, Erdogan assured him that Turkey will closely follow whether Iran fulfills its commitments specified in the agreement. Calling for US support for the agreement, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is definitely against nuclear weapons in its region. As strategic and “model partners,” Turkey and the US should trust and support each other, he said. In related news, Ankara remained convinced yesterday that the deal would pave the way for a peaceful solution to the international dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, despite a proposal the US introduced to the UN Security Council for a fresh round of sanctions against Tehran, saying the circumstances were not ripe for pushing for sanctions. Warning Iran about the probable consequences of a lack of commitment to the deal, Ankara has also urged Iran to stick to a timeline included in Monday's deal and start to cooperate with the UN's atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) without delay. Speaking at a televised interview on the heels of a draft resolution submitted by the US to the Security Council to expand sanctions against Iran, Davutoglu yesterday said he believed that imposing sanctions on Iran in the near future was not a likely move. “There are no grounds at the moment for a debate on sanctions,” Davutoglu said, reiterating that the Western powers' insistence on sanctions would harm Turkey's interests as a neighbor of Iran. Ankara will not excuse such an insistence, he added briefly, while refraining from directly commenting on the US-led proposal. In other news, Brazilian officials expressed discontent with the US-led proposal for more sanctions against Iran. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim urged the international community to give more time to Iran. Brazil’s Permanent Representative to the UN Maria Luiza Riberio Viotti said her country feels uncomfortable with the US and its allies ignoring the agreement signed in Tehran.