Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking with AP news agency in Tehran, said: “There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All of our facilities are under the safeguards and monitoring” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The response is being interpreted as a sign that Iran is willing to resume negotiations about its nuclear program, which has been a massive point of contention between Tehran and countries such as the US, UK, France, Germany and Israel.
Araghchi’s statement follows reports by the Washington Post and The New York Times newspapers claiming Iran is building a new enrichment facility near Natanz, where existing enrichment and storage sites were damaged in Israeli and US airstrikes.
The meeting, entitled, “International Law Under Assault: Aggression and Self-Defense,” was organized by the Institute for Political and International Studies, which is closely linked to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Iran insists on right to enrichment
Israeli and US concerns that Iran was using its civilian nuclear program to produce weapons-grade uranium reached fever pitch this June, with both countries carrying out coordinated attacks on several nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic.
“There is no enrichment right now because our facilities, our enrichment facilities, have been attacked,” Araghchi told AP.
Asked what it would take for Iran to continue negotiations with the US and others, Araghchi said Iran’s message on its nuclear program remains “clear.”
“Iran’s right to enrichment, for peaceful use of nuclear technology, including enrichment, is undeniable,” the foreign minister said.
“We have this right, and we continue to exercise it, and we hope that the international community, including the United States, recognizes our rights and understands that this is an inalienable right of Iran,” he added. “We would never give up our rights.”
Tehran in difficult spot after June war and ‘snapback’ sanctions
Mohammad Eslami, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was among those who participated in a three-day summit to which AP and UK-based media were invited.
He told attendees that Tehran had been repeatedly threatened over entering enrichment sites attacked in June.
Satellite pictures analyzed by AP show that Iran has not done any major work at its Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz sites since they were bombed.
“Our security situation hasn’t yet changed. If you watch the news, you see that every day we are being threatened with another attack,” Eslami said. “Every day we are told if you touch anything, you’ll be attacked.”
Iran — which had enriched uranium to as much as 60%, technically just shy of 90% weapons-grade levels and far exceeding the 3.67% needed for producing energy — has been caught in legal limbo since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the Joint Coordinated Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.
Otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, the 2015 agreement promised sanctions relief for Iran if it would stop its nuclear program and allow international inspectors regular access to their sites for verification.
Iran halted cooperation with the IAEA after the US withdrawal.
Though European signatories had been more lenient with Tehran, in September, they, too, opted to “snap back” sanctions on Iran for its continued truculence.
The IAEA’s Board of Governors is scheduled to meet this week and may vote on a new resolution targeting Iran over its failure to cooperate fully with the agency.
Despite his insistence of Iran’s forthrightness, Araghchi told journalists at the summit that the US approach does not suggest Washington is ready for “equal, fair negotiations to reach mutual interests.”
“What we have seen from the Americans so far has actually been an effort to dictate their demands, which are maximalist and excessive,” he said. “We see no chance for dialogue in the face of such demands.”
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