Iran must ‘walk away’ from all uranium enrichment, says Rubio
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran should import enriched uranium for its nuclear power programme, rather than enriching it to any level.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - Iran has to “walk away” from uranium enrichment and long-range missile development, and it should allow inspectors of military facilities, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 1 as a round of nuclear talks was postponed.
Mr Rubio’s comments underscore the major remaining divisions in talks between the countries to resolve the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, with US President Donald Trump threatening to bomb Iran if there is no agreement.
“They have to walk away from sponsoring terrorists, they have to walk away from helping the Houthis (in Yemen), they have to walk away from building long-range missiles that have no purpose to exist other than having nuclear weapons, and they have to walk away from enrichment,” Mr Rubio said in a Fox News interview.
Iran has repeatedly said it will not give up its missile programme nor its uranium enrichment – a process used to make fuel for nuclear power plants but which can also yield material for an atomic warhead.
On May 1, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the scheduled fourth round of talks due to take place in Rome on May 3 had been postponed
Mr Rubio said Iran should import enriched uranium for its nuclear power programme, rather than enriching it to any level.
“If you have the ability to enrich at 3.67 per cent, it only takes a few weeks to get to 20 per cent, then 60 per cent, and then the 80 and 90 per cent that you need for a weapon,” he said.
Iran has said it has a right to enrich uranium under the terms of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It denies wanting to build a nuclear bomb.
Mr Rubio also said Iran would have to accept that Americans could be involved in any inspection regime and that inspectors would require access to all facilities, including military ones.
Washington is ramping up pressure on Iran. US President Donald Trump on May 1 said all purchases of Iranian oil or petrochemical products must stop and that any country or person buying any from the country would be immediately subject to secondary sanctions.
Iran spoke out against that approach on May 2, with its Foreign Ministry saying: “While stressing its commitment to the path of diplomacy and declaring its readiness to continue negotiations, Iran will not tolerate approaches based on threats and pressure.” REUTERS
