18/05/2010 Iran's nuclear fuel exchange accord signed with Turkey and Brazil has "checkmated" US efforts to slap new sanctions on Tehran over its atomic program, a government-owned newspaper said on Tuesday. "America checkmated by Tehran three-way accord," said the daily Iran.Columnists in the top reformist daily Shargh urged rival factions and government critics to back the deal, which it hoped would blunt efforts to impose further sanctions on Tehran. "You can complain why they postponed a decision which could have been taken months ago but the new policy should be supported," prominent reformist analyst Abbas Abdi wrote.
Leading daily Kayhan hailed "Iran's intelligence and strength" and insisted the Islamic republic would be the "winner" whether world powers rejected or accepted the deal.
Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Tehran expects a quick response from world powers on the accord to ship much of its low enriched uranium to Turkey as part of a nuclear fuel swap deal.
Iran will notify the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the accord signed on Monday with Turkey and Brazil "in writing, through the usual channels, within a week," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
"We expect members of the Vienna group (the United States, France, Russia and the IAEA) to quickly announce their readiness" to implement the fuel swap, he told reporters.
The accord signed on Monday with Brazil and Turkey commits Iran to deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of low enriched uranium (LEU) in Turkey in return for higher grade fuel for a Tehran research reactor.
The new nuclear declaration released with Turkey and Brazil gives Iran the assurance that Ankara is to hold Iran's LEU and return it if Tehran does not receive the higher enriched uranium from either France or Russia in a specific time period.
Mehmanparast said if the Islamic republic reaches agreement with the countries involved in the initial IAEA-backed deal, it "will pave the way for more nuclear cooperation."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened top advisors on Tuesday to assess the Iranian nuclear deal with Turkey and Brazil that may stall the new UN sanctions Israel seeks against Tehran, officials said.
The unscheduled inner cabinet, meeting accompanied by an announcement from Netanyahu's office that ministers were under orders to withhold public comment, reflected Israel's worries about the efficacy of foreign efforts to negotiate with Iran.
Earlier, a senior Israeli official accused Iran of having "manipulated" Turkey and Brazil. "The Iranians have already pulled off such a trick in the past - by pretending to accept such a procedure to lower tensions and reduce the risk of harsher international sanctions, then refusing to follow through," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The deal was also expected to further complicate Israel's once-strong ties with regional ally Turkey, which have seriously deteriorated since Israel's December 2008-January 2009 assault on Gaza.
Other nations which have been pressing for sanctions against the Iranian nuclear program reacted to the deal with skepticism. "It does not change the steps that we are taking to hold Iran responsible for its obligations, including sanctions," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs in Washington.
The US and its European allies have been trying to impose another round of sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council. They have been seeking Beijing and Moscow's support to push through the embargoes.
However, the new declaration released by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Barzil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have turned the tables as Russia has also welcomed the declaration.
Reacting to the declaration, Beijing said it hoped the deal would lead to a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear dispute even as Western powers condemned the new deal as too limited.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi suggested his government was encouraged by the proposal and favors further negotiations. "China has noted the relevant reports and expresses its welcome and appreciation for the diplomatic efforts all parties have made to positively seek an appropriate solution to the Iranian nuclear issue," the Foreign Ministry website quoted him as saying.
"China has consistently advocated safeguarding the international nuclear non-proliferation system. At the same time, China considers we should resolve the Iran nuclear issue through the channels of dialogue and negotiations."
China and Russia, both veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, have resisted tough sanctions on Iran, favoring diplomacy.
Turkey's Foreign Mininster Ahmet Davutoglu called on Western powers not to weaken the chances of the nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran with talk of new sanctions. "With the agreement yesterday, an important psychological threshold has been crossed towards establishing mutual trust," Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul.
"Sanctions, the discussions on sanctions will spoil the atmosphere and the escalation of statements may provoke the Iranian public opinion," he added.
Davutoglu argued there was no need to doubt the deal, touting the agreement as a basis to overcome the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program which the West suspects is a cover for a nuclear arms drive.
"There is no uncertainty. There is a political will clearly expressed by Iran, signed by Turkey and Brazil, countries very much respected in the international community; and the whole thing is linked to a calendar," he said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his part considered the deal a "positive step," a statement from his office said Tuesday. "The president of the republic believes that the transfer of 1,200 kilograms of low enriched uranium from Iran is a positive step," the statement said. "It must be logically accompanied by a halt to (Iran's) 20 percent enrichment" of nuclear fuel.
Israel, like the United States, has refused to rule out military action to halt Iran's nuclear drive despite Tehran's insistence that its program is purely for civilian purposes and it is its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) while Israel, which is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear heads, is not a signatory for this treaty.
Yossi Melman: "... an important victory for Iranian diplomacy & a debacle for Israeli policy..."
In Haaretz/here
The agreement on the transfer of Iran's enriched uranium, achieved via Turkish-Brazilian mediation, is an important victory for Iranian diplomacy and a debacle for Israeli policy. The deal reduces the chances, which were slim to begin with, of new sanctions being imposed on Iran, and makes a military strike against Iran even less feasible.
The full, precise details of the agreement are not known, and the devil is in the details. But the deal's significance is clear: a new atmosphere, at least on the face of it, of dialogue, negotiations and compromise with the ayatollahs' regime in Tehran.
U.S. and French spokesmen did express doubts about the likelihood of the deal being implemented, and they do understand that it enables Iran to continue its nuclear program in line with the timetable it has set for itself. But in the atmosphere that has now been created, the Obama administration will find it even harder to convince Russia and China to support a resolution to impose sanctions on Iran. Moreover, there is no majority for such a move on the Security Council.
It is not clear whether the United States was in the know about the talks between Turkey, Brazil and Iran, though there are some who believe it was undoubtedly involved. But either way, Washington is not upset over the agreement. If he so wishes, U.S. President Barack Obama could use the deal as a springboard for talks with Iran - not only about its nuclear program, but also about the broader strategic context that includes Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.
'Israel, Say cheeeese ...'
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