US values Turkey, Brazil efforts on Iran

The US State Department has expressed hope that the efforts of Turkey and Brazil to find a peaceful solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program will be successful.

“We do recognize the value and importance of a variety of countries engaging Iran,” AFP quoted US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley as saying on Tuesday.

“There is a two-track process here, engagement and pressure, and the foreign minister told the secretary that Brazil continues to see… what can be achieved on this engagement process,” Crowley added, referring to a meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim on the sidelines of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, which is currently underway in New York.

But Crowley also stated that “we hope that these efforts by Turkey, Brazil and others might be successful.”

Turkey and Brazil have repeatedly called for a peaceful solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the West’s push to impose new sanctions on Iran will not solve the issue.