Turkey, Brazil back in business on İran nuclear swap deal

Tehran will reply today to a letter the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sent it last month concerning the nuclear swap deal agreed on in May by Iran, Brazil and Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced yesterday in Istanbul, following a three-way meeting with his Brazilian and Iranian counterparts. The trio reaffirmed that diplomacy is the first and only way out to the dispute between major powers and Iran over Tehran's controversial nuclear program, Davutoglu told reporters, speaking after meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. "The Tehran agreement is a declaration which constitutes a very strong instrument for the resolution of the issue. It still provides a basis for a positive contribution to the process regarding the nuclear dispute," Davutoglu said, referring to the deal reached in Tehran under which Iran agreed to send some of its uranium abroad, reviving a plan drafted by the UN, with the aim of keeping its nuclear work in check. "We hope that both this [Iran's] letter and the process initiated by it will pave the way," for a diplomatic solution to the overall dispute, Davutoglu said. Regarding the process between Tehran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), Davutoglu said Mottaki had reaffirmed his country's willingness for talks with the European Union about its nuclear program after the end of the holy month of Ramadan, probably in the first half of September. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton wrote to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili last month inviting him to resume negotiations. Istanbul is likely to be the venue for the meeting between Ashton and Jalili, as there is a broad consensus for having the meeting there, Davutoglu said, adding, "As we have always been, we would only be too glad to be the address for any diplomatic solution."