- 'Zero enrichment' is unacceptable, says Iran's Foreign Minister
- Recognizing Iran's right to enrich is key: Araqchi
- Iran open to talks on 'level and purity' of enrichment: diplomat
DUBAI: Recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium is key to making nuclear talks with the United States successful, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday.
U.S. and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, aiming to revive diplomacy amid a U.S. naval buildup near Iran and Tehran's promises of a tough response if attacked.
“We will never be able to accept zero enrichment. Therefore, we must focus on discussions that accept enrichment within Iran while building confidence that enrichment is and will remain for peaceful purposes,” Araqchi said.
Iran and the United States held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, which stalled mainly due to disagreements over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the United States 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 United States sees as a possible path toward making nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
A diplomat in the region briefed by Iran said Reuters on Friday that Tehran was open to discussing the “level and purity” of enrichment, as well as other deals, as long as it was allowed to enrich uranium on its territory and was granted sanctions relief as well as a reduction in military tensions.
“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 do.”
The minister also said that Iran's missile program, which the United States would like to include in the negotiations, had never been part of the agenda.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on Sunday that talks with the United States were a “step forward” and that Tehran wanted its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to be respected.
The date and location of the next round of talks will be determined in consultation with Oman and may not be Muscat, Araqchi said.
