Dubai: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said that recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium is essential for nuclear negotiations with the United States to succeed.
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Speaking on Sunday, Araqchi said that “zero enrichment” is unacceptable to Tehran, stressing that future talks must acknowledge Iran’s right to enrich uranium on its own soil while ensuring confidence that the programme remains exclusively peaceful.
“Zero enrichment can never be accepted by us. We need to focus on discussions that accept enrichment inside Iran while building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes,” he said.
His remarks followed indirect talks between Iranian and American diplomats held in Oman on Friday, aimed at reviving diplomacy amid heightened regional tensions, including a US naval buildup near Iran and Tehran’s warnings of a strong response to any attack.
Iran and the United States held five rounds of nuclear negotiations last year, which stalled largely over disagreements on uranium enrichment. In June, the US carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.
Tehran has since said it has halted enrichment activities, which Washington considers a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran, however, maintains that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
A regional diplomat briefed on the talks told Reuters that Iran is open to discussions on the level and purity of uranium enrichment, as well as other confidence-building measures, provided it is allowed to enrich uranium domestically and receives sanctions relief alongside steps toward military de-escalation.
Araqchi said Iran’s stance on enrichment is driven by principles of sovereignty and national pride. “Iran’s insistence on enrichment is not merely technical or economic; it is rooted in a desire for independence and dignity. No one has the right to tell the Iranian nation what it should or should not have,” he said.
The foreign minister also clarified that Iran’s missile programme, which the US wants included in negotiations, has never been part of the nuclear talks agenda.
Meanwhile, President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on Sunday that the talks with Washington were a “step forward” and that Iran expects its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to be respected.
Araqchi added that the date and venue of the next round of talks would be decided in consultation with Oman and may not necessarily take place in Muscat.
