Iran rejects temporary suspension of uranium enrichment amid nuclear deal talks

Iran yesterday ruled out suspending uranium enrichment as part of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear agreement with the United States.

Western countries, led by the United States and Israel, suspect that Tehran is seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon, despite its repeated denials.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading the American negotiating team since 12 April, said the US “cannot allow Iran even 1 per cent of its enrichment capacity.”

However, Tehran, which defends its right to civilian nuclear energy, particularly for electricity generation, considers this demand a “red line” that defies the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), to which it has acceded.

The fifth round of Oman-mediated negotiations in Rome ended on Friday without any significant progress, but both sides said they were ready to continue “constructive discussions”.

Iranian diplomats said yesterday that no new date had yet been set for further talks, ruling out any possibility of suspending uranium enrichment to reach an agreement.

“This information is purely imaginary and completely untrue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at his regular press conference.

According to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates, Iran is currently enriching uranium to 60 per cent, far above the 3.67 per cent limit permitted by the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, from which the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018.

Iran says it has begun to scale back its commitments following the US unilateral withdrawal.

Experts estimate that enriched uranium can have military applications starting at 20 per cent, however, to make a nuclear bomb, enrichment levels should reach 90 per cent.

US President Donald Trump threatened a military strike against Iran if the diplomatic process failed.

“We had very good discussions with Iran,” Trump said on Sunday in New Jersey before boarding his plane back to Washington.

“I don’t know if I’ll announce anything good or bad in the next couple of days, but I have a feeling it’s going to be something good. We’ve made real progress, a lot of progress,” he added.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman announced yesterday that an IAEA official will visit Iran in the coming days.

For his part, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to visit Oman this week. Baqaei confirmed that “it’s natural that negotiations between Iran and the United States will be discussed during this visit.”

READ: Iran says keen to offer guarantees on nuclear program, but won’t stop enrichment