Turkey's foreign minister says Iran is ready to hold talks on its nuclear program with the European Union after the Muslim month of Ramadan ends in September.
The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil met in Istanbul Sunday to discuss Iran's next steps for nuclear negotiations.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Iran will send a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency Monday, asking to start "technical" negotiations on a nuclear fuel swap.
The United Nations Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in June after the country did not accept a U.N.-backed plan to swap low-enriched uranium for uranium fuel rods needed for an Iranian medical research reactor. The deal would have reduced Iran's uranium stockpile and delayed its capability to produce nuclear weapons.
Instead, Iran wanted a nuclear fuel swap deal negotiated by Turkey and Brazil, which included the uranium exchange without demanding a halt in Iran's uranium enrichment.
Turkey's foreign minister and his Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim, said Sunday they support a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear standoff with Western countries.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran would like to continue discussions with Turkey and Brazil.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
