Iran hopeful on nuclear fuel swap deal: FM

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said today he remained hopeful that a nuclear fuel swap deal with Brazil and Turkey would go ahead despite a frosty reaction from the United States.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday he remained hopeful that a nuclear fuel swap deal with Brazil and Turkey would go ahead despite a frosty reaction from the United States.

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"I don't expect that the deal will fail because of the US position," Mottaki said at a news conference in Tokyo ahead of a meeting with Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada.

"I can't say how big the chance is in percentage terms, but I have great hopes for the realisation of the deal," he said, according to a Japanese translation of his remarks in Farsi.

Turkey and Brazil brokered a deal with Iran earlier this month under which Iran has committed to deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of low-enriched uranium in Turkey in return for reactor fuel.