Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 4 / corr Trend U.Sadykhova /
In case Iran agrees to deliver enriched uranium to a third country, Turkey could become the most acceptable candidate, experts believe.
The experts explain this by the confidence established between Tehran and Ankara amid the strengthening Turkish presence in the Middle East througgh cooperation with the U.S.
"Turkey with its good relations with the West and Middle East is the most acceptable country in the international arena, Hilmi Ozev, a researcher at the Turkish-Asian Center for Strategic Research (TASAM) told Trend over the phone. "Turkey is the only country that Iran can rely while delivering uranium abroad."
A day prior to the start of Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchohr Mottaki's visit to Turkey, the country's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said his government agrees to sign an agreement on exchanging nuclear fuel under U.N. control.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration and European countries consider this agreement an important term for restricting Tehran's opportunities to create nuclear arms, which the West fears.
Immediately after Prime Minister Rejep Tayyib Erdogan's visit to Iran,Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said in November that his county agrees to undertake temporary preservation up to 70 percent of the low-enriched Iranian uranium.
The idea was supported by Mohammed ElBaradei, who was then the IAEA general director. A plan to deliver uranium to Turkey was an alternative to a proposal supported by U.N. It envisaged re-enriching Iranian uranium in Russia or in France and delivering it back to Iran for further use for peaceful purposes.
On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said his country does not have any problem with delivering enriched uranium to a third country, even if it does not receive in exchange the agreed upon 20-percent enriched uranium for reactors in Iran.
Amid the Iranian president's statements, the Iranian nuclear program will be included in talks between Mottaki and Turkish officials.
Meanwhile, experts do not relate Mottaki's visit to Turkey to discussions over the nuclear program, but do not rule out that Turkey will attach great importance to this statement, fearing flashes of a new war in the region in connection with the nuclear dispute.
Uranium exchange will be raised during Mottaki's visit to Turkey, because the latter demonstrates a great deal of interest in the issue and is trying to play the role of a mediator, said Reza Taghizadeh, Glasgow University professor.
However, Mottaki is hardly interested in it, and he will shift talks on nuclear exchange to more serious plane, because the Iranian authorities have not defined with delivery of 3-percent uranium to the third country, Taghizadeh told Trend .
The Wall Street Journal writes that Ahmadinejad earlier faced sharp criticism from the parliamentary opposition, whilst Iranian Supreme Leader ayatollah Khamenei called the deal a compromise with the West.
Now it seems that Ahmadinejad succeeded in convincing his opponents of this decision, who had objected to delivering low-enriched uranium to Turkey or another country, Turkish analyst Ozev said.
Ozev relates Turkey's selection with Ankara's activated foreign policy in the Middle East, as well as the country's good relations with the West, which previous candidate Russia lacks.
Ankara's robust union with Syria, Tehran's strategic ally, contributes to the increase of Iran's confidence in Turkey. So, Turkey is more likely to be a choice while delivering uranium to the third country, said Husni Mahalli, a leading Turkish researcher on Middle East policy.
"Turkey's position on regional issues satisfies us, it gained support of Iraq, Syria, Palestine and now Iran, including on the nuclear program, Mahalli told Trend .
Confidence in relations with Syria and Iran is very important for Turkey, because both countries border with Iraq, which is the host for bases of PKK terror organization.
An agreement on delivery of uranium to the third country will promote boosting confidence measures between Iran and the West.
The U.S. can win time to conclude a more scaly agreement to cease Tehran's nuclear program, which the West believes can be used for creating a nuclear bomb.
However, Taghizadeh does not think that Ahmedinejad's proposal will become an outlet to solve disputes around the nuclear program, because Iran did not indicate the exact amount of uranium, terms and conditions of the process.
IAEA demands Iran to withdraw 1,200 of 1,800 kilograms of uranium for creating fuel for nuclear reactor.
"Iran uses uranium which it possesses to pressure in the West, and should there any uranium deal is made it will concern bigger amounts of uranium for delivery," Taghizadeh said.
U.S. representatives guess that this deal will restrict Tehran's opportunities on creation of nuclear arms in the near future, because major part of its decomposed materials will turn out in the third counties' disposal.