NUKE DEAL: TURKEY BECOMES MAJOR ACTOR IN IRAN PROBLEM AFTER URANIUM ENRICHMENT AGREEMENT
Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow correspondent
18.05.10

Iran and Turkey reached agreement on Monday in Teheran on the exchange
of low-enriched uranium in the Turkish territory. The foreign ministers
of Turkey, Iran and Brazil put their signatures to the document at
the ceremony attended by the presidents of Iran and Brazil and the
prime minister of Turkey.

Enrichment of uranium in Iran has been a concern, primarily, of the
United States, who accuses Iran of energizing nuclear weapons and
has said that Iran faces sanctions if it uses its own product.

Striking the deal with US ally Turkey, removes the need for sanctions,
but must have become a surprise for Israel, which directly accuses
Iran of its intention to build a nuclear weapon. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has not commented, but a senior
source at the Israeli government said that the Iranian leadership is
likely to have managed again to cheat the world and avoid sanctions,
without making any serious concessions on its nuclear program. The
Israeli government deems that Iran has abused the good intentions of
the Brazilian leader and his inexperience in diplomatic intrigues.

The statement of official representative of Iran’s Foreign Ministry
Ramin Mehmanparast shows that Iran still might change its mind. The
official said that if one of the ten points of the trilateral
agreement signed by Iran, Turkey and Brazil is not fulfilled,
3.5-percent uranium will be returned to Iran.

Iranian low-enriched uranium may be sent to Turkey within a month
after the signing of a corresponding agreement between Tehran and
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Tehran has agreed to exchange its 1,200 kg of low-enriched (up to
3.5 percent) uranium to further enriched (up to 20 percent) fuel in
the territory of Turkey.

Russia and China having the right of veto at the United Nations
Security Council spoke against new sanctions against Iran until
recently. But they’ve been showing a tougher position on this issue
of late.

If the world makes sure about the sincerity of Iran’s intention to
have its uranium enriched abroad, numerous sanctions against Iran
may be removed, especially those on trade in hydrocarbon resources.

Experts say that the removal of the embargo on Iran may considerably
impact the world oil prices. Iran may be even engaged in global
communication projects, in particular the EU and US-backed Nabucco gas
pipeline project. And the regional configuration will also change,
which may influence the Armenian-Turkish relations and the Karabakh
settlement.