Ammon News - The foreign ministers of Iran, Brazil and Turkey will meet in Istanbul on Sunday the first meeting among the three countries since they agreed on a nuclear fuel swap deal proposal in May, Turkish officials said Saturday.

Under the deal, Turkey would act as an intermediary for Iran to get highly enriched uranium from abroad.

The U.N. Security Council imposed additional sanctions on Iran in early June, expanding an arms embargo and tightening restrictions on financial and shipping enterprises related to "proliferation-sensitive activities."

The 12-2 vote with one abstention came after the United States and other Security Council members expressed their concern over Iran's lack of compliance with previous U.N. resolutions on ensuring the peaceful nature of the nation's nuclear program.

The resolution on further sanctions was introduced by France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Brazil and Turkey voted against the measure and Lebanon abstained.

The passage of the resolution "automatically wiped out" the proposed deal with Brazil and Turkey, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, spokesman for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told CNN at the time.


A Turkish government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the three ministers will meet Sunday "to establish the next steps to be taken in order to further the diplomatic track regarding Iran's nuclear issue."

Washington and its allies want Iran to stop enriching uranium on its own. Iran says it has been enriching it to the level at which it can sustain a nuclear reaction.
* CNN