Iran Says No Deal on Enriched Uranium Stockpile
A senior Iranian source said Tehran has not agreed to hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, pushing back on reports that the issue had been included in the emerging US-Iran agreement.
A senior Iranian source said Tehran has not agreed to hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, pushing back on reports that the issue had been included in the emerging US-Iran agreement.
The source told Reuters that Iran’s nuclear program is not part of the preliminary agreement currently being discussed with Washington.
“The nuclear issue will be addressed in negotiations for a final agreement and is therefore not part of the current deal,” the source said. “There has been no agreement over Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile to be shipped out of the country.”
The comments came after two US officials told The New York Times that Iran had apparently committed in principle to giving up its highly enriched uranium, though the details of how it would do so would be worked out in later negotiations after an initial deal is reached.
Axios reported that the draft agreement includes Iranian commitments to never pursue nuclear weapons and to negotiate over a suspension of uranium enrichment and the removal of its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expected further news on the emerging agreement later in the day, but stressed that the central US goal remains preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“I believe there may be more news coming out a bit later today on this, and I’ll leave it to President Trump to make further announcements,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to India.
Rubio said “significant progress but not final progress” had been made.
“The ultimate goal is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “They will never possess a nuclear weapon, certainly not as long as Donald Trump is president.”
The dispute over the uranium stockpile points to one of the central unresolved issues in the talks. Washington has repeatedly demanded that Iran give up its near-weapons-grade material, while Tehran insists that nuclear questions will only be addressed in a later phase of negotiations.