Sanctions may not have closed the door for talks over Iran's nuclear
program, but the ball is now in Tehran's court to allay international
fears, Brazil's foreign minister said here Wednesday.
During a two-day visit to Sofia, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim
said he was aware that "there were concerns expressed by the Vienna
Group"--the U.S., France and Russia--over a May 17 fuel swap deal
between Iran, Brazil and Turkey.
"I think now it is up to Iran to react to these," he told
journalists.
Iran's tripartite deal to exchange 1,200 kilograms (2,640
pounds) of its low-enriched uranium for higher grade fuel was
cold-shouldered by world powers with the UN, E.U. and U.S. slapping new
sets of sanctions on Tehran.
"My frank opinion is that sanctions do not help. But I am
encouraged by the fact that Iran has had so far a rather flexible
response," Amorim added.
In Tehran, a foreign ministry statement said that the three
parties had decided to meet soon for talks.
Following a telephone call on Wednesday from Amorim to his
Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, it was "decided to examine at a
meeting soon... the follow-up to the Tehran agreement," the statement
said.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov meanwhile noted
that "it is most important at the moment not to take the decision by the
U.N. Security Council for additional sanctions as closing the door for
negotiations and talks with Iran."
"I hope the Iranian authorities will be ready to sit at the
table for an open dialogue on all issues concerning their nuclear
program with the Vienna Group and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) to find a solution to this situation," he added.
"I agree that maybe the sanctions do not close the door (to
talks), I hope that this is the case. But I think that the rush to
sanctions was a bit disappointing from our point of view," Amorim said.
He appeared encouraged that French President Nicolas Sarkozy
was willing to continue negotiations with Iran, based on the Brazil and Turkey
proposal, and he praised the "positive mood" in Iran's general response
to that proposal.
"I think this is a good development."
Amorim added: "We have felt especially on the part of one of
the members of the so-called Vienna Group, the willingness and the
desire to have a continued engagement by Turkey
and Brazil."
"And if this is also the desire of Iran, which I think it is,
but also of the other two (Vienna Group members) we will be more than
glad to help," he said.