Turkey to US: Take Tehran declaration

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127249§ionid=351020104


Turkey has called on the United States to take the opportunity provided by the nuclear fuel swap declaration recently issued by Iran, Turkey and Brazil.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama, asking him not to dismiss the trilateral declaration and to give diplomacy a chance.

The 10-point document "presented an important opportunity to solve the issue through diplomatic means," AFP quoted a brief statement released on Friday by Erdogan's press office.

Ankara's call follows a move by Washington to circulate a draft resolution at the UN on a new round of sanctions against Iran, describing the fuel swap declaration as insufficient.

In a telephone conversation with Erdogan on Tuesday, Obama acknowledged the declaration, but said Washington would nevertheless continue to seek tougher UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The US and its allies have been accusing Iran of efforts to produce nuclear weapons - allegations that Tehran has categorically rejected.

Foreign ministers of Iran, Brazil and Turkey issued a deceleration on Monday which commits Tehran to sending about half of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor.

The declaration immediately received a chilly welcome from the European Union, which described the move as "in the right direction," but said it stopped short of answering all of the West's concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope on Friday that Iran's nuclear declaration would open the door to a negotiated settlement with the West.

In a speech delivered in Istanbul, the visiting UN chief hailed the "encouraging" declaration as "an important initiative in resolving international tensions over Iran's nuclear program by peaceful means."