Iran’s foreign minister says the nation is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday that Tehran is no longer enriching uranium anywhere in the country.
Answering a question from an Associated Press reporter visiting Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gave his most direct response yet regarding the Iranian government’s nuclear program after Israel and the United States bombed enrichment sites in June.
Araghchi said, “There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All our facilities are under the protection and control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.” “There is no enrichment right now because our facilities – our enrichment facilities – have been attacked.”
Asked what would need to be done for Iran to continue negotiations with the United States and others, Araghchi said Iran’s message on its nuclear program was “clear.”
The foreign minister continued: “Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear technology, including enrichment and enrichment, cannot be denied.” “We have this right and we continue to exercise it, and we hope that the international community, including the United States, recognizes our rights and understands that this is an inalienable right of Iran and that we will never give up our rights.”
The Iranian government granted the AP reporter a three-day visa to attend a summit with other journalists from leading British and other media outlets.
The summit was hosted by the Institute of Political and International Studies affiliated with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference, titled “International Law Under Attack: Aggression and Self-Defense,” featured articles by Iranian political analysts presenting Tehran’s view of the 12-day war in June; many took advantage of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comments praising Israel for doing the “dirty work” in launching the attack.
“Iran’s defensive response was remarkable, inspiring, historic and, above all, naive,” wrote international relations professor Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour. “How can Israel’s dirty actions be compared to the noble and clean actions of the Iranian nation?”
Images of children killed by Israel during the war were lined up on the walkway outside the summit held inside the Martyr General Qassem Soleimani Building, named after the leader of the Revolutionary Guard expedition who was killed in a US drone attack in 2020.
However, Iran finds itself in a difficult period after the war. Israel has largely destroyed the country’s air defenses, potentially leaving the door open to further air strikes as tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program continue. Meanwhile, economic pressures and social change continue to challenge Iran’s Shiite theocracy; The Shiite theocracy has so far been slow to decide whether to implement mandatory hijab laws or raise the price of government-subsidized gasoline; both have sparked nationwide protests in the past.
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