“While we acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the Turks and the Brazilians, I think it is important to understand that that agreement alone does not address -- or that proposal alone in its limited form does not fully address all of the concerns that the P5-plus-1 [the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain -- plus Germany] and the larger international community have with Iran's nuclear program. And, again, I'd point to the things that Iran agreed to eight months ago that are left out of this proposal,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday.“While the proposal that was outlined on Monday would be a step in the right direction because of the amount of low-enriched uranium that would be transferred -- again, assuming that the Iranians kept up their end of the deal, which has not -- has almost never been the case -- we have had eight months of progression. That progression has included increased enrichment. And the proposal, again, fails to live up to even what they wanted to do just eight months ago,” Gibbs added.
On the same day, at the US State Department, Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley was asked whether Washington had sent any letter to Ankara since October detailing what the US would accept if Turkey and Brazil were to broker a deal with Iran.
“We've had a number of conversations with Turkey going over several months. And have we at times put those -- some issues down on paper? The answer is yes,” Crowley responded, without elaborating further.
In Ankara, a statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry late on Thursday stated that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has urged the international community to lend support to a joint declaration signed by Iran, Brazil and Turkey in Tehran on Monday that reflects a progressive approach and respect for international law.
The ministry also welcomed the fact that a foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) ended in Tajikistan's capital city of Dushanbe on Thursday with a closing declaration supporting the agreement between Turkey, Brazil and Iran on a nuclear swap.
