Enrichment to 93% is Iran’s right under NPT, lawmakers tell UN watchdog

Iran’s parliament warned on Wednesday that any perceived infringement by the UN's nuclear watchdog on its nuclear rights, including the right to enrich uranium up to 93%, would be met with backlash.

In a statement by lawmakers addressed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the group said that Iran's rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — including nuclear research, development, and peaceful use — are non-negotiable and fully verifiable under the IAEA safeguards.

Read by presidium member Ahmad Naderi during a public session, the statement said, "According to Article 4 of the Treaty on the NPT, the great nation of Iran is entitled to three inalienable rights: first, the right to research and development; second, the right to produce; and third, the right to utilize nuclear energy."

The lawmakers argued that in accordance with this article of the NPT, "the Islamic Republic faces no limitations in nuclear research and development and can proceed with enrichment up to 93% based on its scientific, medical, and industrial needs."

The lawmakers also criticized the IAEA for what they called four decades of obstructing Iran’s peaceful nuclear development, and for relying on what they called politically motivated intelligence, particularly from Iran's archenemy, Israel.

Last month, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Le Monde that Iran was “not far” from being able to produce an atomic bomb, describing the country’s progress as “pieces of a puzzle” that could potentially come together.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and remains under IAEA monitoring.

Also on Wednesday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf condemned US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks in Riyadh in which he referenced Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program and Tehran's support for military proxies, calling them “delusional” and blaming US policies for instability in West Asia.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ghalibaf said, “The root of chaos in the West Asia region lies in the US regime’s support for the Zionist mafia.”

Responding to Trump’s allegations, also in Riyadh, that Iran is the region’s main source of instability, while offering a conditional nuclear deal, Ghalibaf said, “His remarks show he lives in illusion.”

“We advise him to open his eyes to the reality that resistance holds a deep place in the hearts of the people,” Ghalibaf said in reference to Tehran-backed regional armed groups.

“Instead of worrying about Iran’s internal affairs, he should be concerned about his own popularity, which has plummeted to historic lows for an American president,” Ghalibaf added.

The speaker also criticized the US for decades of hostile actions against Iran, including the 1953 coup, support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, the downing of an Iranian passenger plane in 1988, and the assassination of Revolutionary Guard commander General Qassem Soleimani.

“The Islamic Republic has withstood maximum pressure and continues to challenge the global hegemonic system. Even US universities are feeling the impact of this resistance message,” he said, alluding to recent campus protests over the war in Gaza across the US.

Ghalibaf maintained that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and called for regional security through cooperation among neighbors, “free from the interference of non-regional powers.”

“Iran is not a warmonger, but we will never surrender. We are brothers with our neighbors and reject US efforts to stir division to boost its arms sales,” he said.