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No nuke proposal, thus no US rejection either, says Davutoğlu
Under a plan drawn up last October by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and approved by the P5+1 -- the UN Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany -- Iran was to ship out its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia for further enrichment and subsequently send it to France where it would be made into fuel rods.
Tehran stalled and then rejected the plan, suggesting that it could consider a simultaneous swap of its low-enriched uranium for 20 percent-enriched uranium but that the exchange should be simultaneous and would have to take place on its own territory.
Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the country would officially declare that it would produce enriched fuel at 20 percent if the West missed the deadline. Mottaki had said in December that the country was ready to send about 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent-enriched uranium from Iran’s Kish Island and receive 20 percent-enriched fuel. That is one-third of the 1,200 kilograms spelled out in the P5+1 deal.
A report published in the Akşam daily on Saturday suggested that Davutoğlu persuaded Iran to transfer 1,200 kilograms of enriched uranium. Yet, Iran agreed to send the uranium abroad only after it gets the LEU with 20 percent-enriched uranium to be supplied by world powers as part of the UN-drafted deal, the report said.
The proposal conveyed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by Davutoğlu last week, following the latter’s visit to Iran, was rejected by Clinton, the report said.
When reminded of the report during a joint press conference following talks with visiting Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Davutoğlu firmly denied it.
Turkey has been contributing to “keeping communication channels [between parties] open and to removing differences of opinions,” Davutoğlu said, adding that “after all, this is not a consultation which takes place in the form of ‘proposal acceptance.’ This should be known. These consultations are consultations along which all parties deal with all opinions for finding a diplomatic resolution. That’s to say, a situation like ‘Turkey is offering something and it’s being rejected’ is out of the question.”
Davutoğlu was in Tehran last Tuesday having talks with Iranian leaders. Turkey has offered to use its access to the Iranian leadership to help solve a dispute between global powers and Tehran over its nuclear program.
As of Thursday, Davutoğlu conveyed his impressions from his recent Tehran trip to visiting US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns. Ahead of his meeting with Burns, Davutoğlu had already had a telephone conversation with Clinton late on Wednesday when he conveyed his impressions from Tehran.
Davutoğlu said on Saturday that he observed an extremely good-intentioned manner vis-à-vis all US officials, noting that he also observed that Iran has been acting in a “more open-minded manner” as well.
“We hope that this psychological threshold has been overcome and the way for a diplomatic solution has been opened,” Davutoğlu said, as he underlined that Turkey’s efforts are not aimed at gaining prestige but are aimed at contributing to regional and global peace.
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