Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan flew to Tehran on Sunday seeking to seal a deal with Iran on a nuclear fuel swap that could help end a stand-off with the West over its atomic programme.
-- Iran, Brazil in talks to resolve nuclear impasse
Erdogan will join Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who has been in Tehran negotiating with Iranian officials in what Western and Russian authorities have said is probably the last chance to avoid new UN sanctions against Iran.
A UN-backed deal offered Iran last October to ship 1,200 kg (2,646 lb) of its low enriched uranium - enough for a single bomb if purified to a high enough level - to Russia and France to make into fuel for a Tehran research reactor.
Iran later said it would only swap its LEU for higher grade material and only on its own soil, conditions other parties in the deal said were unacceptable. "I am going to Iran because a clause will be added to the proposal which says the swap will take place in Turkey," he said.
"We will have the opportunity to start the process regarding the swap," he said. "I guarantee that we will find the opportunity to overcome these problems, God willing." Lula also told reporters after holding talks with Iranians that "the level of hope (to reach an agreement) has increased".
Lula has met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's most powerful authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters like Iran's nuclear activities. "America is angry over the proximity of independent countries like Iran and Brazil...That is why they made a fuss ahead of your (Lula) trip to Iran," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that Lula's mediation effort would fail.
Iran has denied Western accusations it is developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear programme. Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, have offered to mediate to find a resolution to the impasse at a time when world powers are in talks to impose a fourth round of UN sanctions on Iran. Iran had said it viewed the mediation positively.
The Islamic state started higher enrichment in February to create fuel for the research reactor itself, after the failure of talks with major powers over the nuclear swap. The step brings Iran's enrichment closer to levels needed for making weapons-grade material - uranium refined to 90 percent purity.