Iran, Turkey, Brazil open nuclear talks

Foreign ministers of Iran, Brazil and Turkey open trilateral talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul to review the Tehran nuclear declaration on possible nuclear fuel swap.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Istanbul on Sunday to hold talks with his Turkish and Brazilian counterparts Ahmet Davutoglu and Celso Amorim on the Tehran Declaration, Fars News Agency reported.

The three diplomats are expected to attend a press conference later Sunday.

The meeting will be the first such gathering since the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on June 9 over its nuclear program, two weeks after Iran, Brazil and Turkey issued a joint nuclear fuel swap declaration.

Based on the Tehran Declaration, Tehran agreed to exchange 1,200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium on Turkish soil with fuel for a research reactor.

The US and its European allies snubbed the declaration and used their influence on the UN Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran.

Both Ankara and Brasilia condemned the new sanctions, saying it was a major setback for progress on resolving the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Saturday that the meeting was scheduled after a telephone conversation between the Iranian foreign minister and his Turkish and Brazilian counterparts Friday night.

The Islamic Republic has announced that the Tehran Declaration would form the framework of any future nuclear talks with the West.