China welcomes Iran nuclear declaration

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=126872§ionid=351020104


China welcomes a nuclear fuel declaration Iran released in talks with Brazil and Turkey, signaling that it may oppose a US-led drive to impose sanctions on Tehran.

The presidents of Iran and Brazil and the Turkish prime minister issued a landmark nuclear declaration in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday.

Based on the declaration, Iran will ship around 12 hundred kilograms of its low-grade fuel to Turkey, giving Iran enough objective guarantees to exchange it with higher enriched uranium based on a proposal discussed with the West in 2009.

Reacting to the declaration, Beijing said it hoped the deal would lead to a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear dispute.

"We attach importance to and support this agreement," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Tuesday.

"We hope this will help promote the peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations," he added.

The US and its European allies have been trying to impose another round of sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council. They have been seeking Beijing and Moscow's support to push through the embargoes.

However, the new declaration released by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Barzil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have turned the tables as Russia has also welcomed the declaration.

Western powers came close to ending their nuclear dispute with Tehran in October 2009, when representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, Russia, the United States and France gathered in Vienna to discuss a nuclear swap deal.

The US-proposed UN-backed proposal required Iran to send most of its Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing and conversion into fuel rods.

Iran agreed to the IAEA-backed proposal but said it needed guarantees that the other side would deliver the fuel.

The new nuclear declaration released with Turkey and Brazil gives Iran the assurance that Ankara is to hold Iran's LEU and return it if Tehran does not receive the higher enriched uranium from either France or Russia in a specific time period.

Iran awaits West's reply to declaration

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=126860§ionid=351020104


Iran says the new nuclear declaration leaves no excuse for the other side to block the nuclear fuel swap as it seeks cooperation rather than confrontation.

Following the three-way talks between Iran, Turkey and Brazil, Tehran announced a nuclear declaration on Monday whereby Tehran would send some 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kg of higher enriched uranium.

The declaration came as part of an earlier plan to supply fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients.

The declaration seeks to provide Iran with concrete guarantees over the fuel delivery.

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Iran expected a logical response from the other side involved in the swap.

“Now, the world community is awaiting Vienna group's measure and we hope that they do not delay any longer,” he said.

“If Western countries continue to invent excuses, it will be known that they are not looking for a solution and a logical approach to the issue,” he added.

Mehmanparast said that Iran's readiness to exchange its low-enriched uranium on Turkey's soil was a major step toward “creating an atmosphere of cooperation instead of confrontation.”

He said Iran was optimistic about the declaration, hoping that a final agreement on the plan could set stage for nuclear cooperation.

The declaration stipulates that Ankara hold Tehran's low-enriched uranium and return it if Iran does not receive the higher enriched uranium from either France or Russia in a specific time period.