LOC02:15
23:15 GMT
TEHRAN, May 22 (KUNA) - On the eve of the fifth round of talks with the US over the nuclear program, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that talks will fail if Washington insists on depriving Tehran from enriching uranium.
"The American side says enrichment must stop in Iran, and if that is their goal, there will be no agreement," Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with the state TV on Thursday.
Araghchi, however, stated that Iran is willing to accept broader international oversight of its nuclear program while maintaining its uranium enrichment activities within its territory.
"We will not back down from our rights and our enrichment activities, which must continue, but we are ready to build trust and transparency and accept broader oversight because we are confident in the peaceful nature of our nuclear program."
"If they want to deprive our people of their right to the peaceful use of atomic energy, there will be no agreement. But if the goal, as they have repeatedly stated, is to ensure that Iran does not move toward possessing a nuclear weapon, then this is entirely achievable because we are not seeking to possess such a weapon."
The Iranian foreign minister emphasized that any talk about dismantling Iranian uranium enrichment facilities is fundamentally impossible "because these facilities are not made up of several imported devices that can be easily removed. Rather, they are indigenous technology developed within the country".
Araghchi called for breaking the deadlock in the Iranian-American negotiations, saying, "either the other side ultimately accepts that enrichment in Iran cannot be halted and reconsider its position, or the negotiations will continue as they are now".
When asked how close Tehran and Washington are to reaching an agreement in the fifth round of negotiations between them, Araghchi replied, "It is too early to judge this matter now, and things will become clearer tomorrow."
Regarding Iran's options if the negotiations fail, Araghchi replied, "Of course, we will continue our nuclear program and our advanced industries in the fields of medicine, health, agriculture, the environment, and electricity generation."
US state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Thursday that Washington was optimistic about the talks which are due for a fifth round in Rome on Friday because Iranian diplomats were still talking despite the hard US line on enrichment.
"The fifth round of the nuclear talks would not be happening if we didn't think that there was potential for it," Bruce told reporters on Thursday.
"Clearly we believe that we are going to succeed," she added. "Most of our leaders have who have spoken on it (have said talks are) about no enrichment, and the Iranians are (still) at that table. So they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go."
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional hearing that "Iran cannot have an enrichment capability, because that ultimately makes them a threshold nuclear power".
The nuclear talks, which began on April 12, are the highest-level contact between the long-time foes since the United States in 2018 pulled out of a landmark deal between Iran and world powers, during Trump's first term in office.
The fifth round of talks, which are mediated by Oman, will take place Friday in Friday and include Steve Witkoff, Trump's globe-trotting negotiator. (end)
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