Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a phone conversation with Mohammed El Baradei, head of UN's atomic watchdog, and discussed Iran's nuclear program, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got together with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last weekend in Istanbul over a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Davutoglu informed El Baradei, chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency, about talks with Ahmadinejad as well as his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Manuchehr Motaki, spokesman Burak Ozugergin said.

Davutoglu exchanged views with El Baradei on the phone, and El Baradei gave technical information to Turkish foreign minister, Ozugergin said, adding that Turkish officials would keep in touch with El Baradei.

UN nuclear watchdog agency proposed Turkey as a third-country destination in a draft deal that would provide Iran with fuel for its Tehran research reactor.

Bloomberg website quoted Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, as saying in an interview, "Iran has a lot of trust in Turkey."

The Obama administration would agree to this proposal because the U.S. is very comfortable with Turkey, he said.

Davutoglu said last week they talked the proposal when Iranian President Ahmedinejad was in Turkey for an Islamic meeting.

However, Iranian media said, Iran had not accepted the proposal earlier.

Turkey favors diplomatic option and dialogue for solution to Iran's nuclear issue.


Agencies