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Turkey urges softer tone as time ticks away for Iran

18 February 2010 00:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Ankara has offered to host the exchange of Iranâ€™s low-enriched uranium with the 20 percent enriched uranium to be supplied by world powers as part of a UN deal, APA reports quoting hurriyetdailynews.com web-page. Asked how Iran will respond to the proposal, a Turkish diplomat says, ’We are trying to avoid escalating the tension but of course the Iranians are inscrutable and there is no single Iran in front of us’
With the international community pressuring Iran to accede to a United Nations-backed deal on its nuclear program, Ankara is hoping its friendly relations with Tehran will convince its neighbor to enrich its uranium in Turkey.
â€œNo doubt we have conveyed the international communityâ€™s concerns to the Iranians and said escalating tension is in nobodyâ€™s interest. We also presented our views on how to open the lock on specific issues and made several offers to that end,â€ a senior Turkish diplomat told the HÃ¼rriyet Daily News & Economic Review on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat, however, declined to elaborate on the content of the offers made by Turkey during Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄŸluâ€™s talks in Tehran early this week.
DavutoÄŸlu held key discussions with four top Iranian officials known to be crucial figures in the nuclear dispute: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Chief Nuclear Negotiator Saeed Jalili.
â€œWe began the talks at 9 a.m. Tuesday and when they ended, it was passing midnight. The meetings were almost non-stop,â€ said the diplomat, who is familiar with the talks that have attracted much international attention.
Ankara has offered to provide a location for the exchange of Iranâ€™s low-enriched uranium with the 20-percent enriched uranium to be supplied by world powers as part of a United Nations-drafted deal.
Asked if Iran would respond to the present proposal, the diplomat said: â€œWe are trying to avoid escalating tension. But of course, the Iranians are inscrutable and there is no single Iran in front of us,â€ he said, referring to the top four Iranian officialsâ€™ different views of the current dispute.
Turkey provides ’creative energy’
Mottaki said Ankara is an â€œimportantâ€ consultant on Iranâ€™s nuclear program following talks with his Turkish counterpart.
â€œIt is true that we are helping the parties understand each other better but we are also providing the creative energy to overcome any potential problems,â€ Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ã–zÃ¼gergin told the Daily News.
Tehran and world powers are locked in a stalemate over the U.N.-drafted deal that would see Iran ship its uranium to France and Russia for further conversion into higher-grade uranium. Iranian officials want the exchange to take place inside their country, a condition opposed by world powers.
’Turkish engagement is good but Iran needs to respond’
Washington and the West, meanwhile, have welcomed Turkeyâ€™s efforts to engage Iran but say Iran needs to respond.
â€œTurkey has been a valuable interlocutor in discussions with Iran. We appreciate the efforts by the government of Turkey to explain to Iran the serious concerns of the international community,â€ diplomatic sources from the United States told the Daily News.
â€œThe [U.S.] ambassador [to Ankara] has said many times Turkey is part of the region and it has a voice that Iran will hopefully listen to. I think DavutoÄŸluâ€™s trip this week to Iran is another example of Turkeyâ€™s willingness to engage. However, time is running out,â€ said the sources. â€œEngagement is good for the region but it cannot go on forever. Iran needs to respond in a concrete way to the offer made by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Association].â€
Iran asked to send its uranium abroad
World powers want Iran to restore international confidence by repeating their demand that the country send its uranium abroad for enrichment.
â€œRecent statements by President Ahmadinejad illustrate the problem we all face with Iran. They have further eroded trust in Iranâ€™s actions,â€ said a Western diplomat, speaking to the Daily News on the condition of anonymity.
â€œTurkeyâ€™s efforts to get Iran to engage are welcome, but as Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] ErdoÄŸan said last weekend, they have yet to yield results. If Iran feels that it can act with impunity, then weâ€™ll all have a problem. That is why we are pursuing further sanctions â€“ Iranâ€™s regime must face a higher price for its refusal to honor its obligations to cooperate fully with the IAEA and to engage seriously with the international community,â€ the diplomat said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs William J. Burns, the State Departmentâ€™s third-ranking official, will hold talks in Ankara on Thursday. Iranâ€™s nuclear dispute is expected to figure prominently on the agenda.