U.S. plays down chances of atomic deal with Iran

(Corrects to 1,200 kilograms in 2nd paragraph quote)

ANKARA Feb 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Saturday he saw no sign a deal was close between Iran and Western powers on exchanging some of its low-enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel it can use in a reactor producing medical isotopes.

"I don't have the sense that we're close to an agreement," Gates told reporters in Ankara, where he met Turkish leaders. "If they are prepared to take up the original proposal of the P-5 plus one of delivering 1,200 kilograms of their low enriched uranium, all at once to an agreed party, I think there would be a response to that.

"But the reality is they have done nothing to reassure the international community that they are prepared to comply with the NPT or stop their progress towards a nuclear weapon, and therefore I think various nations need to think about whether the time has come for a different tack," Gates added.

Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said on Friday he saw good prospects for clinching a deal with world powers on exchanging some of its low-enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel. (Reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Charles Dick)