The United States said on Tuesday that China backed a "strong draft" UN sanctions resolution against Iran, even as Beijing offered its support for a deal Tehran signed to swap its nuclear fuel abroad.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the draft would be circulated on Tuesday to the UN Security Council, which includes Brazil and Turkey, who brokered Iran's deal to ship much of its low enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey.
In a surprise announcement before a Senate committee, Clinton said the three-veto wielding permanent Security Council members had reached the agreement, after China had shown particular reluctance.
Washington had been working with the two powers "on the draft of a new sanctions resolution on Iran, and today I am pleased to announce...we have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China," she said.
"This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
China had earlier come out in support of the accord Iran signed with Turkey and Brazil to swap much of its LEU on Turkish soil.
"We attach importance to and support this agreement," said foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, whose country is one of the veto-wielding members of the Security Council.
"We hope this will help promote the peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue."
Monday's accord signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil commits Iran to deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of LEU in Turkey in return for fuel for a Tehran research reactor.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the world community on Tuesday to support the deal, which his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned could be spoiled by talk of sanctions.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, another permanent Security Council member, said that while it was a "positive step," the deal must be accompanied by a halt of Iran's uranium enrichment.
Tehran said on Tuesday that it expects a swift response from world powers on the accord, which a government-owned newspaper boasted had "checkmated" US efforts to slap new sanctions on it.
Iran would notify the International Atomic Energy Agency of the accord "in writing, through the usual channels, within a week," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
"We expect members of the Vienna group (the United States, France, Russia and the IAEA) to quickly announce their readiness" to implement the fuel swap, he told reporters.
The IAEA said it has received the text of the accord but was now expecting Tehran to notify it directly of what commitments it had undertaken.
The so-called Vienna Group made an offer last October to ship most of Iran's LEU out of the country in return for higher grade reactor fuel to be supplied by Russia and France.
Iran stalled on the deal insisting it wanted a simultaneous swap on its own soil, a proposal world powers rejected.
Tehran, already under three sets of UN sanctions over its defiant nuclear drive, touted the agreement as a goodwill gesture that paves the way for a resumption of talks with world powers.
Most MPs -- 234 in Iran's 290-member house -- gave their backing Tuesday to the accord and urged the government to "demand the abolishment of resolutions against Iran" over its nuclear programme, parliament's website said.
Iran's archfoe Israel -- the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state -- is weighing a formal response to the deal, although a senior official accused Iran of trickery shortly after it was signed.
Monday's signing came after three-way talks in Tehran between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey's Erdogan.
Ahmadinejad appeared to be in favour of last year's UN-brokered deal but faced fierce criticism from hardliners and Iran's conservative camp over any handover of the uranium stockpile.
The new accord, however, has sparked little criticism in Iran.
"In this national issue it was required that all views come together and the country moves forward with a unanimous voice," conservative parliament speaker Ali Larijani said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
AFP
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the draft would be circulated on Tuesday to the UN Security Council, which includes Brazil and Turkey, who brokered Iran's deal to ship much of its low enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey.
In a surprise announcement before a Senate committee, Clinton said the three-veto wielding permanent Security Council members had reached the agreement, after China had shown particular reluctance.
Washington had been working with the two powers "on the draft of a new sanctions resolution on Iran, and today I am pleased to announce...we have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China," she said.
"This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
China had earlier come out in support of the accord Iran signed with Turkey and Brazil to swap much of its LEU on Turkish soil.
"We attach importance to and support this agreement," said foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, whose country is one of the veto-wielding members of the Security Council.
"We hope this will help promote the peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue."
Monday's accord signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil commits Iran to deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of LEU in Turkey in return for fuel for a Tehran research reactor.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the world community on Tuesday to support the deal, which his foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned could be spoiled by talk of sanctions.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, another permanent Security Council member, said that while it was a "positive step," the deal must be accompanied by a halt of Iran's uranium enrichment.
Tehran said on Tuesday that it expects a swift response from world powers on the accord, which a government-owned newspaper boasted had "checkmated" US efforts to slap new sanctions on it.
Iran would notify the International Atomic Energy Agency of the accord "in writing, through the usual channels, within a week," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
"We expect members of the Vienna group (the United States, France, Russia and the IAEA) to quickly announce their readiness" to implement the fuel swap, he told reporters.
The IAEA said it has received the text of the accord but was now expecting Tehran to notify it directly of what commitments it had undertaken.
The so-called Vienna Group made an offer last October to ship most of Iran's LEU out of the country in return for higher grade reactor fuel to be supplied by Russia and France.
Iran stalled on the deal insisting it wanted a simultaneous swap on its own soil, a proposal world powers rejected.
Tehran, already under three sets of UN sanctions over its defiant nuclear drive, touted the agreement as a goodwill gesture that paves the way for a resumption of talks with world powers.
Most MPs -- 234 in Iran's 290-member house -- gave their backing Tuesday to the accord and urged the government to "demand the abolishment of resolutions against Iran" over its nuclear programme, parliament's website said.
Iran's archfoe Israel -- the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state -- is weighing a formal response to the deal, although a senior official accused Iran of trickery shortly after it was signed.
Monday's signing came after three-way talks in Tehran between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey's Erdogan.
Ahmadinejad appeared to be in favour of last year's UN-brokered deal but faced fierce criticism from hardliners and Iran's conservative camp over any handover of the uranium stockpile.
The new accord, however, has sparked little criticism in Iran.
"In this national issue it was required that all views come together and the country moves forward with a unanimous voice," conservative parliament speaker Ali Larijani said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
AFP
