Iran refusing to export highly enriched uranium but willing to dilute purity, sources say | Iran nuclear programme
Iranian sources said Iran has refused to export its 300kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium, but is willing to dilute the purity of the stockpile that the UN nuclear inspectorate, the IAEA, keeps under its control.
The offer will be at the center of Iran’s overture to the United States in the next few days, at a time when US President Donald Trump is weighing whether to use its vast naval base in the Middle East to attack the country.
Iran currently has a stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium enriched to 60 percent, but is prepared to reduce the purity to 20 percent or less.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also claims that the United States has no demands to give up its right to enrich itself in Iran. Instead, the emphasis is on the purity of the enrichment and the number of centrifuges that will be allowed.
Sending the stockpiles to Russia and linking Iran’s domestic enrichment program to an overseas consortium has been discussed, but Iranian sources insist the consortium concept has not been raised.
Iranian media close to the government quoted an Iranian diplomat as saying: “We emphasized our stance that nuclear materials will not leave the country during the negotiations.”
Iran’s statement about its relatively uncompromising position means that great importance should be given to the degree of access the IAEA will be given to inspect nuclear sites.
Iran’s offer will likely determine whether Trump will feel compelled to take military action against Iran.
In an interview published in the US on Friday, Araghchi said: “Washington has not asked Tehran to permanently suspend uranium enrichment.” He added that Tehran had not offered Washington a temporary suspension of uranium enrichment.
He rejected reports that Iran had proposed suspending uranium enrichment for two to three years, saying: “It is not true that the US has called for a complete halt to enrichment.”
His remarks contradicted US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, who, at the prompting of his interviewer, said that the US wanted “zero enrichment” from Iran.
Reza Nasri, an Iranian lawyer with connections within the State Department, warned: “While nuclear disputes can be resolved diplomatically in a fair and equitable manner, if Iran is attacked, other regional states will inevitably come to one conclusion: Nuclear weapons are the only real deterrent against the United States and Israel.”
The news came as protests broke out at some universities, sparking new street clashes at Mashhad Health Services University and at least two Tehran universities.
Universities that were closed due to fear of protests have reopened. At Sharif University, students chanted slogans such as “Javid Shah”, “This country will not be a homeland unless the mullah is shrouded” and “Death to the dictator”. The rector of Sharif University urged students to stop, warning that authorities would force classes back online.
Protests are also expected at the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, after Iranian official Afsaneh Nadipour takes the seat as a full member of the advisory council for the first time. Nadipour, Iran’s former ambassador to Denmark, is expected to contribute to women’s rights.
The UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee consists of 18 independent experts from five UN regional groups and serves as the intellectual arm of the Human Rights Council. Nominations are made by governments and selected by the council.
He was elected to a three-year term in October.
