TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said breaking the impasse over a proposed nuclear fuel exchange would provide an opportunity to build trust between Iran and the West.

Iran has already said it is ready to exchange most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium for 20 percent enriched fuel rods to operate the Tehran research reactor. However, Iran has insisted that since it does not trust the West, it wants the exchange to take place simultaneously on Iranian territory under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
If the West is serious about the nuclear swap, the “case can be a multilateral trust-building opportunity for all sides, including Iran,” Mottaki said during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Tehran on Tuesday.
If the fuel exchange is based on the principle of consensus, there is the possibility for an exchange of views, of understanding for mutual trust, Mottaki noted.
He went on to say that Iran has been consulting Turkey regularly over its nuclear program.
Intermediary role
Davutoglu said that Ankara is ready to make efforts to help break the deadlock over the nuclear fuel deal between Iran and the West.
“Turkey is ready to act as an intermediary in the issue of the uranium exchange as a third country and hopes to play a productive role in this,” the Turkish foreign minister stated.
“We will continue to do our utmost to see what we can do for this nuclear fuel swap,” Davutoglu said.
A solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program can be found through negotiation and the diplomatic process, he added.