Nuke deal: Turkey becomes major actor in Iran problem after uranium enrichment agreement

Nuke deal: Turkey becomes major actor in Iran problem after uranium enrichment agreement

Photo: www.wikipedia.org

Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Iran and Brazil signed a trilateral agreement.

Iran and Turkey reached agreement on Monday in Teheran on the exchange of low-enriched uranium in the Turkish territory. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Brazil put their signatures to the document at the ceremony attended by the presidents of Iran and Brazil and the prime minister of Turkey.

Enrichment of uranium in Iran has been a concern, primarily, of the United States, who accuses Iran of energizing nuclear weapons and has said that Iran faces sanctions if it uses its own product.

Striking the deal with US ally Turkey, removes the need for sanctions, but must have become a surprise for Israel, which directly accuses Iran of its intention to build a nuclear weapon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has not commented, but a senior source at the Israeli government said that the Iranian leadership is likely to have managed again to cheat the world and avoid sanctions, without making any serious concessions on its nuclear program. The Israeli government deems that Iran has abused the good intentions of the Brazilian leader and his inexperience in diplomatic intrigues.

The statement of official representative of Iran’s Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast shows that Iran still might change its mind. The official said that if one of the ten points of the trilateral agreement signed by Iran, Turkey and Brazil is not fulfilled, 3.5-percent uranium will be returned to Iran.

Iranian low-enriched uranium may be sent to Turkey within a month after the signing of a corresponding agreement between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Tehran has agreed to exchange its 1,200 kg of low-enriched (up to 3.5 percent) uranium to further enriched (up to 20 percent) fuel in the territory of Turkey.

Russia and China having the right of veto at the United Nations Security Council spoke against new sanctions against Iran until recently. But they’ve been showing a tougher position on this issue of late.

If the world makes sure about the sincerity of Iran’s intention to have its uranium enriched abroad, numerous sanctions against Iran may be removed, especially those on trade in hydrocarbon resources. Experts say that the removal of the embargo on Iran may considerably impact the world oil prices. Iran may be even engaged in global communication projects, in particular the EU and US-backed Nabucco gas pipeline project. And the regional configuration will also change, which may influence the Armenian-Turkish relations and the Karabakh settlement.