Iranian reports said that Tehran rejected the offer, made by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei last week. But in İstanbul, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said the prospects were positive. “We have taken up the issue both during the visit of our prime minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in October] and meetings held on Sunday,” Davutoğlu told reporters on Monday. “We are in a very constructive position with both the IAEA and Iran.”Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in İstanbul on Sunday to attend the OIC summit held yesterday. Ahmadinejad had talks with both Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül on Sunday evening but no statement was made after any of the meetings. Officials confirmed, however, that Iran’s nuclear program was one of the issues discussed.
ElBaradei has said that Iran’s enriched uranium could be transferred to Turkey until Russia provides Tehran with high-enriched uranium. Tehran has yet to give a full, official reply on the proposal, drafted three weeks ago after consultations with Iran, France, Russia and the United States, although Iranian reports said Tehran rejected the offer. Turkish officials, speaking to Today’s Zaman, said Ankara was ready to contribute to efforts to help the resolution of Iran’s nuclear row peacefully, although they say Turkey has not received any formal proposal to help with ElBaradei’s offer.
