Iran to deliver response to Vienna group, IAEA today
The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil held a meeting in Istanbul on Sunday to discuss the declaration on a nuclear fuel exchange that the three countries signed in Tehran on May 17.
After the trilateral meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu quoted Iranian Foreign Minster Manoucher Mottaki as saying that Iran has prepared its response to the Vienna group (France, Russia, and the United States) and will deliver it to International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano on Monday.
Mottaki also said that Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili will hold a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in the near future, Davutoglu added.
Last month, Ashton wrote a letter to Jalili, who is Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, inviting him to resume negotiations.
Davutoglu also quoted Mottaki as saying that Iran is ready to start talks with the European Union about its nuclear program after the first day of the lunar month of Shawwal that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, which will occur on September 10 or 11, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
Prior to their meeting with Mottaki, Davutoglu and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim also held talks in Istanbul earlier in the day to discuss ways to find a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
After the meeting, the two ministers told reporters that they would continue to try to find a peaceful solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
The Tehran declaration is still alive, the two ministers stated.
Amorim said he believes that Iran has the right to pursue its peaceful nuclear program, but it should also take certain trust-building measures.
On May 17, Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a declaration, according to which Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel rods to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.
However, after the agreement was reached, the Western powers rejected the diplomatic initiative, and the United States spearheaded a campaign against Iran’s nuclear program which led to the United Nations Security Council issuing a resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran on June 9
Source: tehrantimes.com
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