US answer to Iran nuclear swap: Overnight deal on sanctions

In a swift answer to the Iran nuclear fuel deal secured Monday by Turkey and Brazil, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that world powers had finalized a package of "strong" new sanctions against Iran.

After months of diplomatic efforts, the US secured support overnight from Russia and China, removing the possibility that the move would be vetoed by the United Nations Security Council. The draft would be circulated later Tuesday to the full Council, she said.

“This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken by Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide,” Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There are a number of unanswered questions regarding the announcement coming from Tehran.”

While Clinton said the US acknowledged the “sincere efforts of both Turkey and Brazil to find a solution," she made clear that the US considered Iran to be still in breach of five Security Council resolutions against it.

"We are proceeding to rally the international community on behalf of a strong sanctions resolution that will in our view send an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran,” Clinton said.

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A rebuff to Turkey

That unmistakable message would also come through as a clear rebuff to Turkey, where just hours before Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had said that the Iran nuclear deal signed yesterday represented “an important psychological threshold” of trust with Iran that should not be undermined by further talk of sanctions.

Seeking to counter the cool reception from the US and Europe to the Turkey-Brazil brokered deal, Mr. Davutoglu said during a press conference in Istanbul on Tuesday that senior US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser James Jones had been in “constant contact with us.”

In addition, he noted that President Obama had encouraged Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in face-to-face meetings in December and April, to convince Iran to accept an original US-backed proposal put forward in October. The nuclear fuel swap deal signed in Tehran on Monday, which calls for Iran to send more than half of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey, is almost identical to that deal.

“What they wanted us to do was give the confidence to Iran to do the swap. We have done our duty,” said Davutoglu, calling the deal an important step for regional and global peace. “We were told that if Iran gives 1,200 kg without conditions, then the required atmosphere of trust would be created [to avoid sanctions]. So if we do all these things, and they still talk about sanctions ... [it] will damage the psychological trust that has been created.”

Davutoglu said that the deal also required "sacrifices" from Iran, which had demanded as late as last week that it be allowed to carry out the swap on Iranian soil, and in batches rather than all at once, and that it receive the higher enriched fuel in a simultaneous trade.

US: Iran still defying five Security Council resolutions

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