Rio De Janeiro: Iran's decision to enrich
to 20 per cent its stock of uranium was never part of the
negotiations behind the nuclear fuel swap deal Brazil and
Turkey struck with Tehran last week, Brazil's foreign minister
has said.
"That was not part -- for many good reasons -- because
that had not happened," Celso Amorim told reporters asking how
Iran's recent decision would influence world powers seeking
more sanctions to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
"The 20-percent enrichment was not part of the
original proposal of the 5+1 (the permanent UN Security
Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United
States, plus Germany) and specially the Vienna Group to Iran,
which was meant to build confidence," Amorim said.
"Iran, actually, had asked the agency (UN's
International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA) to get the 20
percent enriched uranium under the form of fuel rods. It's a
right, assured by the NPT," he added, referring to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"So, what happened? Some countries thought this was an
opportunity to propose an agreement" like the one struck last
week, Amorim said as he stood next to his Turkish counterpart
Ahmed Davutoglu on the sidelines of a UN Alliance of
Civilizations conference in Rio.
"Our mission was to solve this exchange of uranium.
The future of the Iranian nuclear issue is between Iran and
the 5+1 and Iran and the IAEA. We've opened a way for that
dialogue," said the Turkish minister.
"And if Iran respects the rules of NPT and cooperates
with the IAEA, Iran has the right of developing nuclear
technology," Davutoglu added.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, May 29, 2010, 20:17