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Iran FM: No Longer Enriching Uranium 11/17 06:31
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's foreign minister said Sunday that Tehran is no
longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the
West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program.
Answering a question from an Associated Press journalist visiting Iran,
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered the most direct response yet from the
Iranian government regarding its nuclear program following Israel and the
United States' bombing of its enrichment sites in June during a 12-day war.
"There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All of our facilities
are under the safeguards and monitoring" of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, Araghchi said. "There is no enrichment right now because our facilities
-- our enrichment facilities -- have been attacked."
Iran says it is threatened over accessing bombed sites
Asked what it would take for Iran to continue negotiations with the U.S. and
others, Araghchi said Iran's message on its nuclear program remains "clear."
"Iran's right for enrichment, for peaceful use of nuclear technology,
including enrichment, is undeniable," the foreign minister continued. "We have
this right, and we continue to exercise that, and we hope that the
international community, including the United States, recognize our rights and
understand that this is an inalienable right of Iran. And we would never give
up our rights."
Iran's government issued a three-day visa for the AP reporter to attend a
summit alongside journalists from major British outlets and other media.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, also
attended the summit and told the gathering that Tehran had been threatened over
potentially accessing the bombed enrichment sites. Satellite pictures analyzed
by the AP since the attack show that Iran has not done any major work at the
sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
"Our security situation hasn't yet changed. If you watch the news, you see
that every day we are being threatened with another attack," Eslami said.
"Every day we are told if you touch anything, you'll be attacked."
Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity -- a short, technical step
from weapons-grade levels -- after U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally
withdrew America from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
Tehran long has maintained its atomic program is peaceful, though the West and
the IAEA say Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.
European nations also pushed through a measure to reimpose United Nations
sanctions on Iran over the nuclear program in September.
The IAEA's Board of Governors is set to meet this week and could vote on a
new resolution targeting Iran over its failure to cooperate fully with the
agency.
But Araghchi left open the possibility of further negotiations with the U.S.
should Washington's demands change.
He told journalists at the summit that the U.S. administration's approach
does not suggest they are ready for "equal, fair negotiations to reach mutual
interests."
"What we have seen from the Americans so far has actually been an effort to
dictate their demands, which are maximalist and excessive. We see no chance for
dialogue in the face of such demands."
Iran summit decries 'aggression'
Iran's Institute for Political and International Studies, affiliated with
the country's Foreign Ministry, hosted the summit. Titled "International Law
Under Assault: Aggression and Self-Defense," the conference included papers by
Iranian political analysts offering Tehran's view of the 12-day war in June,
many seizing on comments from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz praising Israel
for having done the "dirty work" in launching its attack.
"Iran's defensive response was remarkable, inspiring, historic and above
all, pure," wrote Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour, an international relations
professor. "How can one possibly compare Israel's dirty deeds to the noble and
clean actions of the Iranian nation?"
Images of children killed by Israel during the war lined the walkway outside
the summit, held inside the Martyr General Qassem Soleimani Building, named for
the Revolutionary Guard expeditionary leader killed by a U.S. drone strike in
2020.
But Iran finds itself in a difficult moment after the war. Israel decimated
the country's air defense systems, potentially leaving the door open to further
airstrikes as tensions remain high over the nuclear program.
Meanwhile, economic pressures and societal change continue to challenge
Iran's Shiite theocracy, which so far has held off on making decisions about
whether to enforce its mandatory hijab laws or raise the price of
government-subsidized gasoline, both of which have sparked nationwide protests
in the past.
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