Turkey, Brazil seek diplomatic way out of İranian nuke dispute

Skeptical of US-led proposals to impose tougher sanctions on Iran, Turkey and Brazil, currently both holders of non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council, are seeking a diplomatic way out of the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, and have stepped up efforts to bring together Tehran and major western powers in a uranium swap deal. This was the top issue of a meeting between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington early this week. Afterwards, in a trilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Lula da Silva told the US leader of their position on the issue. Davutoglu is traveling to Brazil later this week for more talks on the Iranian nuclear issue and various models for a possible uranium swap. Under an earlier UN-supported deal, Iran would be provided with nuclear fuel by western powers for a nuclear reactor in Tehran in return for its 3.5 percent enriched uranium. At the time, Turkey proposed a simultaneous exchange of uranium and fuel, but this didn't get the nod from the US and other Western countries. Speaking to reporters, Erdogan said that the Turkey and Brazil are in agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue. "Perhaps there are other countries," he added. "They may join this process. So our all efforts are aimed at finalizing these processes through democratic means and resolving this process through diplomacy. We believe that means other than diplomacy are troublesome. Considering that we are all determined countries with democratic parliamentary systems, we should aim to resolve this issue within this system." Davutoglu's meeting with Lula will come only weeks before the latter's visit to Tehran set for next month.