Former Iranian lawmaker says Tehran must insist on right to enrich uranium

Former Iranian deputy parliament speaker Ali Motahari said on Saturday that Iran must firmly uphold its right to uranium enrichment and resist what he called Western efforts to limit its nuclear independence.

Motahari told ISNA that Western countries “do not want the Islamic Republic to possess a complete nuclear fuel cycle” and instead seek to make Iran dependent on foreign suppliers. “They want us to rely on them for at least one part of the nuclear process,” he said.

He argued that pressure from the United States against enrichment inside Iran is part of a broader strategy to restrict the country’s autonomy. “Without domestic enrichment, we would be forced to beg for reactor fuel — allowing them to impose conditions,” he said, echoing comments by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.