Iran must agree to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency before its purported willingness to strike a nuclear deal can be evaluated, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday.
Iran must agree to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency before its purported willingness to strike a nuclear deal can be evaluated, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday.

"A statement is certainly no authoritative basis to undertake further measures," Merkel said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement on state television Tuesday that it would accept a nuclear fuel-swap agreement overseen by the United Nations.

"When Iran turns to the appropriate institutions, then we will evaluate that fairly," Merkel told reporters in Berlin .

Many U.S. and European diplomats believe Ahmadinejad's comments were designed to upend an accelerating international campaign to sanction Iran for its nuclear work.

Merkel has called repeatedly in recent weeks for new sanctions against Iran .

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