Iran sets new terms for shipping enriched uranium stockpiles abroad

The Iranian Ambassador to the UN has said that Tehran would consider exporting its enriched uranium stockpiles globally and allow foreign investments in its energy sector, provided it reaches a deal with the US first.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iran’s permanent representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said, “Should a new agreement be concluded, we would be prepared to transfer our stockpiles of 60 per cent and 20 per cent enriched uranium to another country and have them transferred out of Iranian territory.”

Iravani’s comments came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested that a nuclear deal with the US might be off the table if President Donald Trump keeps disrespecting the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Trump took potshots at Khamenei, saying that he would have faced “an ugly death” if it were not for the US administration that spared his life.

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Meanwhile, the UN envoy has noted that any possible transfer of the country’s enriched uranium would be contingent on receiving yellowcake in return, a concentrated form of uranium essential to the nuclear fuel cycle, though it must undergo further processing before it can be used as reactor fuel or in nuclear weapons.

He added that another option through which countries can procure Iran’s enriched uranium could be under the “IAEA seal”, but that depends on the progress of negotiations, as Iran has already passed a bill suspending cooperation with the nuclear watchdog.

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Iran is open to “collaborate with all countries in our region that operate nuclear reactors, whether on issues of reactor safety or the supply of reactor fuel,” as long as it serves as a “complementary initiative” and is not a substitute for Iran’s own domestic nuclear program, Iravani said.

Trump had said a few days ago that Iran and the US would hold nuclear talks as soon as next week, teasing the possibility of a deal even after boasting that recent US strikes had crippled the Islamic republic’s atomic programme.