Brazil, Turkey try to hammer out 'last chance' Iran nuclear fuel swap deal

When the UN deal was first offered Oct. 1 last year, Iran’s government first appeared to accept, and then – in the face of opposition even from pro-democracy leaders, who charged that the government was giving away the fruit of Iran’s nuclear scientists — put forward a compromise deal months later.

That was rejected by key Western powers.

It is not yet clear how a compromise fuel swap brokered with Brazil and Turkey—even if acceptable to the US, Europe, Russia, and senior UN officials – would alter the sanctions timeline.

Iran says it wants only peaceful nuclear energy, and rejects nuclear weapons. If a swap deal were done, however, it would effectively delay the speed with which Iran – if it chose – could move toward a weapon, which is what some Western countries believe to be Iran’s aim.

Turkish media Sunday night described a “statement of agreement” being worked out.

The original deal called for Iran to export 1,200 kilograms of its LEU, though continued enrichment in the meantime means that US officials have made clear that the figure that Iran must export now would need to be higher to achieve the same end.

“That would give the West … about two years breathing space, before Iran was back to Day One and could use that 3.5 percent [enriched] uranium stock to actually go up to 90 percent stock” to produce a weapon, says John Large, an independent British nuclear expert.

Russia would enrich Iran’s homemade material to almost 20 percent, and then give it to France to make the complex fuel rods necessary to power Iran’s small and decades-old research reactor in Tehran, which produces medical isotopes.

Led by the US, those nations pushing for the deal “would be worried if the LEU stockpile stayed in Iran. They want that taken out immediately,” says Mr. Large. “One of the previous arguments from Iran was it didn’t want to lose that for the six to nine months it would take Russia to convert it. It wanted to do a swap deal at the end, but that is no advantage to the West because that means we still haven’t taken away the two-year cycle that we want to take away.”

Iranian state media made barely any mention of the nuclear aspect of the meetings, and cast the visit of Mr. da Silva – and his entourage of 300 – as a trade visit meant to cement “strategic ties” between Iran and Brazil.

PressTV reported that Ayatollah Khamenei’s meeting with the Brazilian leader focused on “cooperation needed to end injustice,” and the end of American “unipolarism.”

Declaring that “the capitalist system is on the verge of collapse,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said Brazil and Iran served as a “role model” for cooperation to achieve global “justice.”

Turkish media reported that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met on Sunday for 2 ½ hours with his Brazilian and Iranian counter-parts, during which they apparently agreed the elements to a joint document.

But Iran’s Fars News Agency, which is linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, quoted “informed sources” stating that “no trilateral meeting has been held,” and denying any nuclear progress had been made between Iran and the West.

Related:

• Brazil visit to Iran: 'last chance' before new round of sanctions?
• Iran sanctions: Which way will China go?
• Iran news coverage

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