Iran remains steadfast on uranium enrichment amid US talks
Iran will not cease uranium enrichment, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced. According to the authorities in Tehran, it is considered an "inseparable part of Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program and the nuclear industry, and it must absolutely be preserved."
Iran will not agree to a temporary suspension of uranium enrichment to reach a nuclear agreement with the United States, announced Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei at a press conference on Monday.
Enrichment is an inseparable part of Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program and the nuclear industry, and it must absolutely be preserved, the spokesperson stated, as quoted by the Mehrnews portal.
He added that the date and venue for the next round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States have not yet been set.
"Some progress"
The fifth round of US-Iran talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, held on Friday in Rome, concluded with "some but not conclusive progress", announced Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, acting as a mediator in the negotiations.
The United States authorities reiterated their demand in recent days that the Iranian nuclear programme be subject to a complete ban on uranium enrichment. Washington argues that with such a capability, Tehran would pursue the creation of nuclear weapons.
The West accuses Iran of secretly developing the capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran denies this, arguing that its nuclear programme is purely civilian.
