Halt uranium enrichment to settle issue, Israeli minister tells Iran

The issue of Iran’s nuclear programme could be settled if Tehran called a halt to uranium enrichment. This claim was made by Israel’s Minister of Intelligence and International Affairs Yuval Steinitz, who suggested that the Iranians could then purchase enriched uranium from other countries for use in nuclear reactors developed for civilian energy purposes.

Steinitz told Kol Yisrael radio on Thursday that the Americans and Israelis agree on the “final objective” with regard to the Iranian nuclear programme, but he admitted that there are “small differences” regarding the approach that each country adopts. “We generally see eye to eye with the Americans on the final objective, which is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but there are sometimes small differences over the way to do that,” he said.

He noted that the talks that were held in Rome on Wednesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State John Kerry were comprehensive and open, and they covered other issues as well.

Steinitz met with Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday in the context of US-Israel bi-annual strategic dialogue.