Iran, Brazil and Turkey sign the nuclear fuel deal by Zuzana Zelenakova

The issue of Iran´s nuclear program is getting more and more heated. Iran claims that its nuclear enrichment program is supposed to serve for peaceful purposes only. It states the main reason is rapidly growing population and industrialization of the country. A great deal of pressure is put on Iran from all sides, not only the United States, but also Europe, Russia and of course the United Nations. Most notably, the US are campaigning against Iran developing the nuclear technologies, which they say could be easily used in nuclear weapons. Monday, the deal was sealed between Iran, Turkey and Brazil under which Iran pledged to deliver 1,200 kilos of enriched uranium to ! Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel. The agreement was the result of talks between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Iran is supposed to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)officially about the deal within a week. "The IAEA should inform the Vienna group (United States, France and Russia) of this proposal," said spokesman of Iran´s foreign ministry Ramin Mehmanparast. "If the Vienna group accepts the agreement (made on Monday), there will be an exchange of 1,200 kilos of Iran's 3.5 percent enriched uranium with 120 kilos of 20 percent enriched fuel." "The uranium stockpile in Turkey will be under Iran's and the IAEA's supervision," he added. "We hope the other party accepts this proposal." The US have expressed their consent with the deal, which is actually very similar to the one proposed by Washington last year. At first, Iran agreed with the swap of th! e low-enriched uranium, however, the talks turned out to be a ! failure. Iran has been facing sanctions from the United Nations Security Council concerning the country´s nuclear program, however, Brazil and Turkey, that are members of the Security Council temporarily, claim that these would hardly achieve the desired effect.

related story (sgx17293): http://www.france24.com/en/20100516-turkey-brazil-say-they-h...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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