The U.N. secretary-general called Thursday for Iranian leaders to create it clear to the international community that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Ban also praised a compromise brokered by Brazil and Turkey that that calls for Iran to put 1,200 kilograms of lightly enriched uranium in Turkey. In exchange, Iran would get 120 kilograms of nuclear reactor fuel.
"If this deal is followed up with a broader engagement of the IAEA and the international community, it can be a positive step to a negotiated completion," Ban said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency. He was opening a U.N. conference in Rio de Janeiro aimed at finding solutions to global conflicts.Iran insists its nuclear agenda is only for peaceful purposes, but the West fears it is geared toward nuclear weapons.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the swap deal last week. Both leaders are against striking more sanctions on Iran. The deal, however, was dismissed by the U.S., which is pushing for tougher international sanctions on Iran, arguing that the compromise fails to law out weapons development.
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