DUBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Iran may agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for the lifting of all financial sanctions, its atomic chief said on Monday, one of the most direct indications yet of its position in negotiations with Washington.
US and Iranian diplomats held talks through Omani mediators last week in an effort to revive diplomacy after US President Donald Trump deployed a naval fleet to the region, raising fears of further military action.
The talks follow a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Iran last month when thousands of people were killed, the biggest internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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Trump joined an Israeli bombing campaign last year and targeted Iranian nuclear facilities. He also threatened last month to intervene militarily during the protests, but ultimately backed down.
Washington has demanded that Iran give up its stockpile — estimated last year by the UN nuclear agency at more than 1,000 pounds — of uranium enriched with fissile purity of up to 60%, a small step below the 90% considered weapons-grade.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said on Monday: “The possibility of diluting uranium enriched to 60%… depends on whether, in return, all sanctions are lifted or not.”
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Eslami, whose statements were published by the Iranian news agency ISNA, said, however, that another proposal, sending Iran’s highly enriched uranium to another country, was not discussed in negotiations with US officials.
KHAMENEI’S ADVISOR WILL VISIT OMAN
Ali Larijani, a close aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and secretary of the national security council, will visit Oman on Tuesday following US-Iran talks in the country, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
“During this trip, (Larijani) will meet with high-ranking officials from the Sultanate of Oman and discuss the latest regional and international developments and bilateral cooperation at various levels,” Tasnim said.
The date and location of the next round of negotiations have not yet been announced. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that a new round of talks would be “an appropriate opportunity for a fair and balanced resolution of this case” and that a desired outcome could be achieved if the US avoided maximalist positions and respected its commitments.
Iran will continue to call for the lifting of sanctions and will insist on its nuclear rights, including enrichment, he said.
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Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on scaling back Tehran’s nuclear program, with the process breaking down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment within Iran.
