Recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium is key for nuclear talks with the US to succeed, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said yesterday.
American and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, aimed at reviving diplomacy amid a US naval buildup near Iran and Tehran’s vows of a harsh response if attacked.
“Zero enrichment can never be accepted by us. Hence, we need to focus on discussions that accept enrichment inside Iran while building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes,” Araqchi said.
Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, which stalled mainly due to disagreements over uranium enrichment inside Iran.
In June, the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.
Tehran has since said it has halted enrichment activity, which the US views as a possible pathway to nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
A diplomat in the region briefed by Iran told Reuters that Tehran was open to discussing the ‘level and purity’ of enrichment as well as other arrangements, as long as it was allowed to enrich uranium on its soil and would be granted sanctions relief in addition to military de-escalation.
“Iran’s insistence on enrichment is not merely technical or economic (...) it is rooted in a desire for independence and dignity,” Araqchi said.
“No one has the right to tell the Iranian nation what it should or should not have.”
The minister also said that Iran’s missile programme, which the US would like to include in negotiations, had never been part of the agenda.
&uuid=(email))