ANKARA, Turkey, April 30 (UPI) -- Turkey and Brazil aren't alone in their belief that Iran can be persuaded to resolve a nuclear row through diplomacy, officials in Ankara said.
Washington is pressing for tough new sanctions against Iran at the U.N. Security Council as punishment for a controversial nuclear program.
Burak Ozugergin, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said Ankara was working with its partners in Brazil to find a diplomatic solution, Turkey's English-language daily newspaper Today's Zaman reports.
"It is not only Turkey and Brazil that believe the diplomatic opportunity is still there," he said, pointing to Chinese and Russian positions on possible sanctions.
Ozugergin said Ankara feels sanctions are the best way to solve the nuclear impasse. Tehran, he said, could embrace a nuclear exchange deal through the International Atomic Energy as a way to build international confidence.
"Therefore, we are trying hard and we are suggesting Iran be transparent and we are suggesting to our Western partners that Iran is a serious state that can make rational decisions and there is still opportunity," he said.
His comments come as U.N. members descend on New York next week for a summit on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
