Iran has asked the United States to provide a formal guarantee that it will lift sanctions in ongoing talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme deadlock over the deal persists between the two foes, with Israel keeping a close watch on the developments.
The talks have entered the 6th round as five rounds of high-level diplomatic negotiations ended in mixed outcomes from both sides. “We want to guarantee that the sanctions are effectively lifted,” said a foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. “So far, the American side has not wanted to clarify this issue,” he added.
He made these remarks two days after a report by the UN’s international atomic energy agency showed Iran has stepped up production of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent, close to the roughly 90 per cent level needed to create atomic weapons.
While Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has constantly maintained that ‘Iran does not want to build nukes; rather, its programme is for civilian purposes’. Two of the other major powers, including Russia and China, have shown constant support for Iran in its nuclear programme.
Meanwhile, two days earlier, an IAEA report said Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity had grown by roughly half to 408.6 kg. That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
Additionally, the watchdog said in a wide-ranging, confidential report to member states that Iran had carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the UN nuclear watchdog at three locations that have long been under investigation.
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