Brazil, Turkey still oppose sanctions

Brazil and Turkey are still adamant about the need for diplomatic negotiations on Iran's nuclear program and remain opposed to the calls to impose sanctions on Iran.

Speaking at the Third Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that he "went to Iran in search of a negotiated solution" to the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

"The world needs a Middle East that is at peace. Nuclear energy has to be oriented towards peace, as an element for development," Zeenews.com quoted the Brazilian president as saying.

Lula also stated that the Brazilian constitution bans nuclear weapons, and he highlighted the need for nuclear weapons states to dismantle their nuclear arsenals.

Lula's speech came a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US and Brazil have "very serious disagreements" over Iran's nuclear program.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also spoke at the Alliance of Civilizations meeting, where he told the participants that nuclear weapons states are being hypocritical in their accusations that Iran is seeking to produce nuclear weapons.

"Those who talk like that should eliminate nuclear weapons from their own countries… That's the only way to be convincing," he stated.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a declaration in the Iranian capital on May 17 that commits Tehran to deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of its low-enriched uranium in Turkey that would be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

One day after the trilateral declaration was issued in Tehran, the US submitted a draft sanctions resolution to the UN Security Council, saying it had convinced China and Russia to join its campaign.

Iran, which is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, says its nuclear activities are totally peaceful and International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have never found any evidence of diversion in Iran's nuclear program.

And Tehran has always emphasized that access to civilian nuclear technology is the inalienable right of all IAEA members and all NPT signatories.

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