Iran has struck a deal with Brazil and Turkey over a nuclear fuel swap designed to allay international concern over the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions and avert fresh sanctions on the major oil producer.
However, the deal, hammered out in talks between leaders of the three countries in Tehran, has not fully satisfied major powers which have been discussing a new round of punitive UN measures against Tehran.
Iran said it had agreed to swap 1,200kg of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) for higher-enriched nuclear fuel from abroad, to be used in a medical research reactor.
The exchange would take place in Turkey, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, adding Iran could send LEU to its neighbour within a month. It would be under the supervision there of the UN nuclear agency watchdog.
Iran, which rejects Western accusations it is seeking to develop nuclear bombs, had earlier insisted such a swap must take place on its territory.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there was no justification for more UN sanctions on Iran after Tehran agreed to the fuel exchange.
"The swap deal, signed by Iran today, shows that Tehran wants to open a constructive path ... There is no more ground for new sanctions and pressures," he told reporters in Tehran after the agreement was signed by ministers.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on six world powers for fresh talks on Iran's nuclear programme.
"It is time for 5+1 countries to enter talks with Iran based on honesty, justice and mutual respect," Mr Ahmadinejad said, referring to the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany.
The White House today said Washington and its international partners remain seriously concerned about Tehran's nuclear program, although it would be a positive step for Iran to transfer low-enriched uranium off of its soil as it agreed to do in October.
"Iran must take the steps necessary to assure the international community that its nuclear program is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
France’s foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said he wanted to see details of the accord, announced earlier on Monday, before judging its merits.
"However, let us not deceive ourselves, a solution to the (fuel) question, if it happens, would do nothing to settle the problem posed by the Iranian nuclear programme," he said in a statement.
Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent Security Council members, had offered to mediate to find a resolution to the impasse. It was seen as the last chance to avoid a new round of UN sanctions.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan discussed the deal with Mr Ahmadinejad in Tehran, Iranian state media reported.
Major world powers had urged Iran to accept a months-old International Atomic Energy Agency plan to ship 1,200kg of its low-enriched uranium - enough for a single bomb if purified to a high enough level - abroad for transformation into fuel for a medical research reactor.
The proposal, backed by the United States, Russia and France, was aimed at giving time for diplomatic talks with Iran.
Tehran agreed in principle to the deal in October but then demanded changes such as a simultaneous swap on Iranian soil, conditions other parties in the deal said were unacceptable.
Mr Mehmanparast said Iran would formally notify the IAEA about today's swap deal within a week.
Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Turkey would be obliged to return Iran's LEU "immediately and unconditionally" if Monday's agreement was not implemented.
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the United States and its allies had no more excuse to pressure Iran.
"We think we are on the way of resolution of this fabricated file which has been politicised since the beginning ... this file hopefully will be closed forever," he said, according to Press TV.
Reuters