Iran will insist that any negotiations be based on a nuclear-fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil in May, Mohsen Shaterzadeh said on Friday.

Shaterzadeh also underlined that said Tehran wants Brazil and its president to play a role in any nuclear talks.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva brings the "hope and support" of developing nations to the discussion, he added.

After West's opposition to Iran's proposal of a two-staged exchange of fuel, Iranian, Brazilian and Turkish officials on May 17 signed an agreement named the 'Tehran Declaration' which presented a solution to the longstanding standoff between Iran and potential suppliers of nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor. According to the agreement, Iran would send some 1200 kg of its 3.5% enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total 120 kg of 20% enriched fuel.

But again the western countries showed a negative and surprising reaction to the Tehran Declaration and sponsored a sanctions resolution against Iran at the UN Security Council instead of taking the opportunity presented by the agreement.

Russia, France, and the US, in three separate letters, instead of giving a definite response to the Tehran Declaration, raised some questions about the deal, and the US took a draft sanctions resolution against Iran to the UN Security Council, which was later approved by the Council.

West's reaction not only surprised, but also angered Turkish and Brazilian officials who had started talks with Tehran at the US request. Ankara and Brasilia expected a positive reaction from the US and its western allies after they struck the nuclear swap deal with Tehran and they were astonished to see Washington's belligerent approach and adoption of fresh sanctions against Iran.

The US-sponsored sanctions resolution was eventually approved at the UN Security Council on June 9, but with Brazil and Turkey's opposition and Lebanon's abstention.