Turkey offers to host Iran nuclear swap

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has said Turkey could serve as the center for the exchange of uranium ... but there is no agreement up until now," he said at a press conference in the Qatari capital Doha.

Erdogan was due to hold talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who arrived in Doha on the first leg of a Gulf tour focused on the Iranian nuclear program and US calls for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Tehran.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country has good ties with Tehran and has repeatedly offered to serve as mediator, is expected to visit Iran in the coming days to push for a diplomatic solution.

The move coincides with Western efforts for Iran to commit to an UN-drafted proposal for it to ship its low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad in return for nuclear fuel from France and Russia for a Tehran medical research reactor.

Although Iran has said it is ready "in principle" to sign on to the proposal, it insists that not all its LEU be shipped out in one go as world powers are demanding; Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.