Talks unlikely to succeed, former Iranian nuclear chief says

A former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoun Abbasi, said nuclear negotiations with the West are unlikely to yield results due to fundamental differences, particularly over Iran’s right to uranium enrichment.

“I never expected the negotiations to succeed,” Abbasi told Didban Iran, citing what he described as a wide gap between Western demands and Iran’s red lines on nuclear issues.

Abbasi, who is also a former lawmaker, asserted that Iran needs uranium enrichment at 20% and above to benefit from nuclear energy. He said enrichment is essential to meet Iran’s technical and strategic needs.

“The main issue Western countries have with us is not about enrichment levels, but the very principles of the Islamic Revolution,” he said. “They do not want to see an Iran that has undergone an Islamic Revolution emerge as a scientific, technical, and defense power.”

He accused the US and Europe of having a history of obstructing Iran’s advancement and of holding “excessive demands” in past negotiations.