Iran says open to transferring highly enriched uranium abroad - Al Monitor

Tehran would be open to a nuclear deal in which it transfers its stockpile of highly enriched uranium abroad, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said in an interview with Al-Monitor.

The dovish comments were the most expansive official expression of Iran's nuclear stance since the end of a twelve-day war which saw the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites attacked by Israel and the United States.

However, the whereabouts of Iran's near-bomb-grade uranium stockpiles remains unknown.

"We would be prepared to transfer our stockpiles of 60% and 20% enriched uranium to another country and have them transferred out of Iranian territory in return for receiving yellowcake," Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told Al-Monitor in a written interview.

Before the conflict, Iranian officials had loudly rejected the idea of such a transfer.

Around 400 kilograms—more than 900 pounds—of uranium enriched to 60% purity is unaccounted for. A former top UN nuclear official told Iran International that the risk of Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon remains until the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms its location.

“One should not relax because this material as such is enough for 10 nuclear weapons if it is enriched further to 90%,” former Deputy Director General of the IAEA Olli Heinonen told Eye for Iran.

Regional consortium

In his interview with Al-Monitor, Iravani added Tehran is open to a regional nuclear consortium broached in US-Iran talks but does not see the plan as a substitute for a domestic nuclear program.

Iran, the envoy said, is willing to “collaborate with all countries in our region that operate nuclear reactors — whether on issues of reactor safety or the supply of reactor fuel,” if such a move is a “complementary initiative” and not a substitute for Iran’s domestic nuclear program.

The United States, according to domestic media reports, proposed to Iran in talks preceding the war the creation of a nuclear consortium potentially including Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the United States.

The arrangement would aim to supply Iran with enriched uranium for civilian use in exchange for partial sanctions relief on Iran’s oil exports, central bank, and the shipping sector.

Address unknown

The location of the proposed consortium was not determined in the talks as Tehran insisted enrichment must occur on its own soil.

Axios and The New York Times reported earlier this week that US negotiator Steve Witkoff has proposed creating a regional consortium to break the deadlock in stalled nuclear talks.

Iran's foreign ministry early this month rejected giving up domestic enrichment, but Iravani appeared to give the consortium idea its biggest official endorsement yet.

“A consortium could very well be one of the forms such cooperation might take,” Al-Monitor quoted Iravani as saying.

Asked if Iran would limit enrichment to the auspices of the consortium operating within Iran, Iravani told the outlet: “In principle, we have no objection to that; however, we should consider it based on the details of any potential proposals we receive.”

Iravani told the outlet that the Iranian parliament's recent move to bar cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency "does not signify Iran’s withdrawal from the NPT," or non-proliferation treaty.

A nuclear deal with the United States, Iravani added, must respect “Iran’s rights as a responsible (NPT) member”.