Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warns West not to miss last Iran nuclear 'opportunity'
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a possible Iran nuclear fuel swap is a one-time opportunity that could be squandered if the UN approves a fourth round of Iran sanctions this week.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday. He said a nuclear swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil is a one-time opportunity that should not be missed.
Burhan Ozbilici/AP
Istanbul, Turkey
On the eve of an expected United Nations Security Council vote for new sanctions against Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned world powers against jeopardizing a one-time “opportunity” to engage Iran on its nuclear program.
“The US government and its allies are mistaken if they think they can brandish the stick of [a] resolution and then sit down to talk with us – such a thing will not happen,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said during a regional security summit taking place in Istanbul this week.
Still on the table, but with a muted response from the West so far, is a nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil in Tehran on May 17. In the deal, Iran would send about half its homemade low-enriched uranium to Turkey, and receive higher-enriched reactor fuel from a third party, which has not yet been named.
The deal, which does not require Iran to comply with UN resolutions against further enrichment, is meant as a confidence-building step toward resolving questions about whether Iran's nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.
“The meeting in Tehran created an opportunity for the US administration and for its allies … and we still hope that they will be able to use this opportunity,” the Iranian president said. “[T]hat opportunity will not be repeated.”
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