Iran rejects reports it may halt uranium enrichment
Iran has reiterated the non-negotiable nature of continued peaceful uranium enrichment activities on its soil, while repeating the Islamic Republic’s rejection of reports alleging that the country could suspend the process as part of an “interim deal” with the US.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made the remarks, commenting on a question about a report that had come up speculations about the possibility of a so-called stopgap agreement.
Citing “unnamed Iranian sources,” the report had suggested that Iran could halt enrichment temporarily in exchange for the unfreezing of its confiscated assets and recognition of its right to enrich.
The spokesman, however, categorically dismissed the report, calling it another baseless fabrication.
“This claim is in the same vein as previous attempts to fabricate narratives, all of which have been repeatedly refuted and proven false,” Baghaei stated.
“These claims are merely media speculation, published with various motives and intentions, and none of them are verifiable,” he added.
Iranian officials have consistently maintained that uranium enrichment would continue regardless of whether an agreement would be reached between the Islamic Republic and the United States.
Iran might allow the U.N. atomic watchdog to send U.S. inspectors to Iranian sites if Tehran's talks with Washington succeed, Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said.
"In the current (nuclear) negotiation conditions, if certain issues are raised, agreements are made, and Iran’s demands are considered, we are open to reconsidering allowing American inspectors through the (UN nuclear) agency (IAEA)," Eslami told a press conference in Tehran.
Tehran and Washington are expected to hold a sixth round of talks to solve a decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, with U.S. President Donald Trump predicting good news.
