Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani on Sunday said that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear enrichment “will never stop” because it is permitted for “peaceful energy” purposes under the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
“The enrichment is our right, an inalienable right, and we want to implement this right,” Iravani told CBS News.
The Iranian UN envoy also said that there are no threats from his government to the safety of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi or against the agency’s inspectors, who some Iranian officials said helped Israel justify its attacks.
Photo: Reuters
IAEA inspectors are currently in Iran, but do not have access to Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The inspectors “are in safe conditions, but the activity has been suspended. They cannot have access to our site ... our assessment is that they have not done their jobs,” he said.
Iravani also responded to questions on why Tehran has not accepted proposals for a diplomatic solution. Referring to US President Donald Trump’s “unconditional surrender” demand, Irvani said the US “is dictating the policy towards us. If they are ready for negotiation, they will find us ready for that, but if they want to dictate us, it is impossible for any negotiation with them.”
Iravani on Saturday said that Iran could transfer its stocks of enriched uranium to another country in the event of an agreement with the US on Tehran’s nuclear program, Middle East news Web site Al-Monitor said.
The transfer of 20 percent and 60 percent enriched uranium would not be a red line for Tehran, Iravani said, adding that the material could alternatively remain in Iran under IAEA supervision.
However, he said that Iran would not renounce its right to domestic uranium production, a condition the US rejects.
Irvani’s comments comes as Western nations, including the US, are pushing for Iran to resume negotiations over its nuclear program a week after the US launched strikes on three facilities, setting off days of heated dispute over whether the facilities has been “totally obliterated,” as Trump initially said, or if they had delayed, but not destroyed the program.
Also speaking to CBS News on Sunday, Grossi stated that there is “agreement in describing this as a very serious level of damage,” but Iran would be able to begin producing enriched uranium within months.
“They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that, but as I said, frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,” he added.
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