US signals backing for IAEA proposal on Turkish role in Iran uranium deal

The plan requires Tehran to send 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms) -- around 70 percent of its stockpile -- of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia in one batch by the end of the year for further enrichment, a move that would ease international concerns that the material could be processed for a bomb. After further enrichment in Russia, France would then convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes. Fuel rods cannot be further enriched into weapons-grade material.

“We support the proposal as the IAEA has presented it,” Ian Kelly, the US State Department spokesman, said at a press conference on Monday when asked if the US supported the proposal for Iran to send its LEU to either Russia or Turkey. “We hope that Iran will … make the right choice and accept the proposal. But we will consult on next steps if Iran ultimately decides to not take this opportunity,” Kelly said.

Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has not yet given its final response to the UN proposal and has instead come up with its own request to buy nuclear fuel from abroad. Iranian officials and lawmakers have hardened their stance regarding the Western plan in recent comments, adding to the pressure on the government to reject the draft altogether. In addition, Tehran has indicated it may agree to send only “part” of its stockpile in several shipments abroad and has threatened to -- should the talks with world powers fail to help Iran obtain the fuel from abroad -- enrich uranium to the higher level needed to power the research reactor domestically. The back-and-forth has left the nuclear talks in limbo.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday that ElBaradei’s proposal to send Iranian LEU to Turkey was discussed in talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, both of whom were in İstanbul to attend an economic summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). “We are in a very constructive position with both the IAEA and Iran,” Davutoğlu said of the talks.

Turkish officials say Ankara is ready to contribute to efforts to help resolve Iran’s nuclear row peacefully but add that Turkey has not received any formal proposal to help with ElBaradei’s offer.

Speaking to reporters before departing İstanbul late on Monday, Ahmadinejad declined to comment directly on ElBaradei’s offer for Turkey to play a role but said Iran had much trust in Turkey. “We have very good relations with Turkey. There is great confidence between us,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. He avoided giving a direct answer when persistently asked about Iranian media reports which said Tehran had rejected the offer.

ElBaradei said in remarks made over the weekend that he offered Turkey as a third destination country after Iran refused the West’s proposal that the uranium be enriched in Russia. “It should work,” he said. The IAEA head also added that Iran has great faith in Turkey and that the US administration would be open to such a proposal, because the US is also comfortable working with Turkey. The proposal has yet to be formally presented to Turkey, he said, but predicted that Ankara would agree to store the uranium under the IAEA’s supervision.

US: Iran has time to decide on proposal

On Monday Glyn Davies, the US ambassador to the IAEA, told Reuters in Vienna that his country is willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept the deal. “There have been communications back and forth. We are in extra innings in these negotiations. That’s sometimes the way these things go,” Davies said. “We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It’s a tough issue for them, quite obviously, and we’re hoping for an early, positive answer from the Iranians.”

 “We’re not putting any kind of formal deadline on it, but I think you’ve heard the secretary say that our patience is not infinite,” Kelly said at the State Department, when asked whether there is a deadline for a response from Iran. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Germany on Monday that it was premature to discuss what steps might follow or when. “We believe that this offer represents an important opportunity for Iran both to meet the medical and humanitarian needs that the Tehran research reactor fills and to begin to restore international confidence in their nuclear program,” she said. Last week in Washington Clinton said negotiators would not wait on Iran “forever.”