国际英语新闻：Iran ready for unconditional talks on nuclear fuel swap

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Iran is ready to start the nuclear talks " without delay," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

"About nuclear fuel swap and talks with Vienna group, we are ready to start the talks without delay and in the earliest time," Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.

The Vienna Group comprises the United States, France, Russia and International Atomic Energy Agency.

Talking to ISNA, Mehmanparast called the trilateral Istanbul meeting among Iranian, Turkish and Brazilian foreign ministers on Sunday "very positive" and said that "the meeting was a move forward and a positive act to materialize the Tehran declaration."

Turkey, Iran and Brazil signed an agreement on May 17, dubbed Tehran declaration, in which Iran committed itself to giving 1,200 kg of its 3.5 percent enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 20 percent enriched uranium it will receive from Western countries to be used as fuel in the nuclear research reactor in Tehran.

Later in the day, Mehmanparast criticized fresh EU sanctions against the country in an attempt to tighten pressures over Tehran to halt its nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Sanctions "are not effective tools to stop nations from following their inalienable rights," he said, adding that "such measures will only help complicate situation."