NATO’s worst nightmare as Iran might hand enriched uranium to Putin | World | News
Vladimir Putin’s Russia has signaled it is ready to buy Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a peace deal in the Middle East. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow offered to facilitate peace in the region by “playing a role” in extracting uranium, which forms the core of nuclear weapons. While destroying Iran’s nuclear program is a key goal for Donald Trump in the ongoing conflict, Russia’s acquisition of the stockpile could significantly reduce the threat to the NATO alliance.
Lavrov said: “This role can take many forms, including the reprocessing of highly enriched uranium into fuel-grade uranium, transferring a certain amount of it to Russia for storage. I repeat, anything that Iran can accept without violating its inalienable right, as any other state, such as the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the proposal “was made by President Putin in discussions with both the United States and regional states” and was “still valid, but has not been implemented.”
This comes after the first round of talks between Iran and the US in Pakistan last weekend failed to reach an agreement.
An Iranian diplomatic official denied that talks had stalled because of Iran’s nuclear ambitions; Iran has insisted that these goals are peaceful while rejecting external restrictions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claims that Iran has a stockpile of 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity, which is a short and technical step away from the weapons-grade level of 90%.
Russia, which already has the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, had previously received large quantities of enriched uranium from Iran as part of a 2015 deal between Iran and six nuclear powers aimed at restricting its atomic program.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned this week that Iran’s estimated stockpile could allow it to produce up to 10 nuclear bombs if it decides to weaponize its program.
Iran denied IAEA access to its nuclear facilities, which were bombed by Israel and the United States during the 12-day war in June, according to a confidential report distributed to member states seen by The Associated Press in February.
The report emphasized that it could not confirm “whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities” or “the size of Iran’s uranium stockpile at the affected nuclear facilities.”
