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Iran-Turkey enriched uranium deal a problem for Obama

The agreement negotiated by Brazilian and Turkish leaders would have Iran send 1,200 kg of its low enriched uranium stockpile to Turkey, and in turn receive 120 kg of higher enriched uranium for Iranian nuclear medical use within a year.

President Obama’s nuclear headache By  Laura Rozen – POLITICO.com | 5/17/10 The Obama administration isn’t publicly celebrating a nuclear fuel swap deal announced Monday in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Brazil.

“Given Iran’s repeated failure to live up to its own commitments, and the need to address fundamental issues related to Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and international community continue to have serious concerns,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

The agreement negotiated by Brazilian and Turkish leaders would have Iran send 1,200 kg of its low enriched uranium stockpile to Turkey, and in turn receive 120 kg of higher enriched uranium for Iranian nuclear medical use within a year.

But it does not call for Iran to halt enriching uranium to 20 percent, which Tehran began to do in February. It also removes only about half of Iran’s stockpile of fissile material, leaving just enough that, if enriched to weapons grade, would be sufficient for a single nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, the deal is likely to complicate, if not scuttle, President Barack Obama’s months of uphill efforts to get a new UN Security Council resolution sanctioning Iran, while not being sufficiently tough or comprehensive to derail the push for Iran sanctions in Congress.

May 18, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, uranium