Iran Rejects Transferring "A Single Atom" Of Enriched Uranium From Its Territory
Contradicting earlier Gulf-sourced reports from this week, top Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei has rejected the prospect of transferring enriched uranium out of the country as part of any deal with the US.
He weighed in during an interview with Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV, wherein Rezaei again slammed the door shut on Iran sending its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium to a third country.
Rezaei, who serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), stressed that the Islamic Republic would not "remove a single atom of enriched nuclear material" and that Russia is aware of Tehran’s position.
Russia had earlier in the conflict offered to receive and store the highly enriched uranium - an overture which presumably still stands, but which Tehran is for now also rejecting.
The fresh statements come after Rezaei met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, and amid what appears to be Moscow's stepped up diplomatic involvement in seeking to resolve the crisis in the region.
According a Al Jazeera, "While Iran has repeatedly rejected the transfer of its uranium, it has not ruled out diluting the uranium to a lower enrichment level under international supervision."
Additionally in the comments, Rezaei characterized some recent reporting coming out the West on the status of negotiations as fake:
His comments come as reports swirl over a potential meeting between him and US Vice President JD Vance to negotiate a deal that reopens the Strait of Hormuz and ends the war against Iran, now in its ninth month.
Al Mayadeen quoted Rezaei as saying that there were no talks being held between Tehran and Washington, dismissing reports of a recent meeting in Qatar as “pure lies” meant to drive down oil prices which have risen around the world due to instability in the Middle East sparked by the war.
That's precisely the process that seems to have been playing out at the opening of this week. Negotiation 'optimism' gets floated chiefly in Gulf news sources, only to hours later be batted down as false by the Iranian side.
Rezaei has stressed that the US was "manufacturing fake news" about talks.
Iran has still insisted its seven conditions must be met, and that it won't negotiate the nuclear file until after the war is ended (and after these seven are fulfilled). As it stands, the seven are:
1. An end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon
2. Lifting the US naval blockade of Iran
3. Releasing Iran's frozen assets
4. Lifting Iran sanctions imposed after the Islamabad Agreement
5. Withdrawal of US forces from the geography around Iran
6. Iranian oil sales to be exempted from sanctions
7. Recognition of the maritime corridor agreed upon by Iran and Oman. There will be no nuclear discussions until these conditions are met.
Middle East regional journalist and pundit Sharmine Narwani observes, "The Strait of Hormoz will not reopen until the US accepts and executes these terms, verifiably. Iran will no longer be flexible - that opportunity was forever lost once the US and Israel launched a war of aggression."
Meanwhile, Professor Robert Pape says that if Tehran has decided to build a bomb, there's basically nothing the US can do about it at this point.
Interestingly, war reparations are not mentioned in the above list, and this point was always seen as the most unrealistic for Washington to ever agree to.
However, Rubio this week cited war reparations as precisely the non-starter Tehran is still apparently sticking to, which he says shows Tehran is not yet serious about achieving a lasting peace deal.