Iran Says Uranium Enrichment Open For Debate
Iran is willing to talk with world powers about a “temporary halt” to its uranium enrichment program, an Iranian Member of Parliament says.
Mohammad Hassan Asferi, a member of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told the Khaneh Mellat website: “The West has to make a clear time frame for the halting of uranium enrichment; for instance, say Iran can halt its 20-percent enrichment activities for two years and during these two years the West will be responsible for providing for Iran’s needs. But to demand a permanent scrapping of the enrichment program will not be considered under any conditions.”
He also added that Iran can only accept a halt to its 20-percent enrichment program if all sanctions against it are dropped and its nuclear file is withdrawn from the UN Security Council.
The International Atomic Energy Agency sent Iran’s nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council in 2006, and since then the Security Council has approved four resolutions against Iran.
UN sanctions on Iran include a ban on selling arms and missile technology as well as a boycott of a number of Iranian banks, Iran’s shipping industry and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
On top of these UN measures, the United States and the European Union have imposed unilateral sanctions on Iranian oil exports and its financial sector.
Iran and the group of six world powers have been negotiating to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear activities.
