Iran can’t enrich uranium, can only import it for civilian programme: Rubio

WASHINGTON – Iran will have to stop enriching uranium under any deal with the United States and can only import what is needed for a civilian nuclear programme, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ahead of

talks between Tehran and Washington

on April 26.

However, Iran has already made clear that its right to enrich uranium is not negotiable.

When asked about Mr Rubio’s comments, a senior Iranian official, close to Iran’s negotiating team, again said on April 23: “Zero enrichment is unacceptable.”

The United States is seeking to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb and US President Donald Trump has imposed a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions and threatened to use military force if Iran does not end its nuclear programme.

Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon and says its nuclear programme is peaceful. US and Iranian officials will meet in Oman on April 23 for a third round of talks on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.

“There’s a pathway to a civil, peaceful nuclear programme if they want one,” Mr Rubio told the Honestly With Bari Weiss podcast on April 22.

“But if they insist on enriching, then they will be the only country in the world that doesn’t have a ‘weapons programme’... but is enriching. And so I think that’s problematic.”

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff last week said Iran does not need to enrich past 3.67 per cent – a remark that raised questions as to whether Washington still wanted Tehran to dismantle its enrichment programme.

Mr Witkoff then said a day later that Iran must “stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment”.

Mr Rubio said on April 23 that Mr Witkoff was initially talking about “the level of enriched material that they would be allowed to import from outside, like multiple countries around the world do for their peaceful civil nuclear programmes”.

“If Iran wants a civil nuclear programme, they can have one just like many other countries in the world have one, and that is they import enriched material,” Mr Rubio said.

The UN nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – has said that Iran is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 per cent purity, close to the roughly 90 per cent weapons-grade level.

Western countries say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level for civilian uses and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart on April 23 that China supports Iran holding talks on its nuclear programme with the US but opposes the use of force and “illegal” unilateral sanctions to try to resolve the issue.

Beijing is willing to deepen coordination and cooperation with Tehran on international and regional affairs, Mr Wang told Mr Abbas Araqchi during talks in the Chinese capital, according to a ministry statement.

“The Chinese side commends Iran’s promise not to develop nuclear weapons and respects Iran’s right to utilise nuclear energy peacefully,” Mr Wang said.

In 2015, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions in a deal with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But in 2018, Mr Trump, a year into his first term, pulled out of the pact.

Tehran and Washington started negotiations again earlier in April with the aim of placing limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

China, the largest buyer of Iranian oil, has backed Tehran as US pressure mounts.

The US has so far sanctioned two China-based small independent “teapot” refiners for purchasing Iranian crude.

In March, Chinese imports of Iranian oil surged to an all-time high as buyers stocked up amid worries that further US sanctions on Tehran could tighten supplies.

China buys some 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, traders and analysts have said. The two countries have built a trading system that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to US regulators. REUTERS