Turkey, Brazil convince Iran to compromise: Iranian nuclear fuel swap to take place in Turkey

Iran yesterday agreed to ship most of its enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country’s disputed nuclear program and deflate a US-led push for tougher sanctions. The deal was reached during 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 United Nations-drafted plan that Washington and its allies have for the past six months been pressing Tehran to accept in order to deprive Iran -- at least temporarily -- of enough stocks of enriched uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. Yesterday’s deal was announced after talks between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. Speaking to reporters after talks with the Brazilian and Iranian leaders, Erdogan called the step taken by Iran “an opportunity.” While noting that the implementation of the deal was up to specific arrangements between Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain -- plus Germany (P5+1). “The said step at the same time shows the mutual trust between Turkey and Iran,” Erdogan said with regards to the fact that the swap will take place in Turkey. The deal will pave the way for restarting dialogue between Iran and the international community and reaching a permanent solution to the dispute surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, he said. The agreement on the text of a joint declaration signed by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim came on Sunday evening following 18-hour-long negotiations. Davutoglu, meanwhile, describing the new deal as a “historic turning point,” said it also meant that Iran was willing to “open a constructive road.” “There is no ground left for more sanctions or pressure,” he told reporters in Iran, while stressing that Turkey has once more shown that all kinds of issues can be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of financial sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment. The process is key to concerns over its program, because it can produce either the 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. The fuel swap deal on the table since October was touted as a way to reduce tensions and ensure Iran cannot build a bomb in the short term. The material returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods cannot be processed beyond its lower, safer levels. Iran needs the fuel rods to power an aging medical research reactor in Tehran that produces isotopes for cancer treatment. Da Silva dubbed the agreement as a diplomatic victory while Ahmadinejad called on six world powers to start new negotiations with his country. “They should welcome the major event that took place in Tehran and distance themselves from the atmosphere of pressure and sanctions to create an opportunity for interaction and cooperation with Iran,” Ahmadinejad said. Under the agreement, the IAEA will get written notification of the accord within a week; Iran and the IAEA will be able to station inspectors in Turkey to monitor the nuclear stockpile; the world powers will have a year to deliver higher-grade enriched uranium to Iran for use in a Tehran medical research reactor; Iran will get its 1, 200 kg of low-grade enriched uranium back if world powers fail to deliver the reactor-grade fuel within a year; and Iran will retain the right to enrich uranium.