Teheran should increase N-enrichment: Khamenei
DUBAI/VIENNA Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Iran would need to significantly increase its uranium enrichment capacity, underlining a gap in positions between Teheran and world powers as they hold talks aimed at clinching a nuclear accord.
Iran and six major powers – the US, Russia, France, Germany, China and Britain – have less than two weeks to bridge wide differences on the future scope of Iran’s enrichment programme and other issues if they are to meet a self-imposed July 20 deadline for a deal.
They resumed talks in Vienna last week and their negotiators continued meetings in the Austrian capital on Tuesday; but there was no immediate sign of any substantive progress.
Iran insists it needs to expand its capacity to refine uranium to fuel a planned network of atomic energy plants. The powers say Teheran must sharply reduce the capacity to prevent it being able to quickly produce a nuclear bomb using uranium enriched to a far higher degree. “Their aim is that we accept a capacity of 10,000 separative work units (SWUs), which is equivalent to 10,000 centrifuges of the older type that we already have. Our officials say we need 190,000 SWU. Perhaps this is not a need this year or in two years or five years, but this is the country’s absolute need,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his website late on Monday.
An SWU is a measurement of the effort necessary for the separation of isotopes of uranium.
Iran says its programme is for civilian purposes such as electricity generation and denies any ambitions to build an atomic bomb.
Iran expert Ali Vaez said the negotiations were now at a precarious stage.
Last week, other Western diplomats said Iran had reduced demands for the size of its future nuclear enrichment programme in the negotiations, although Western governments were urging Tehran to compromise further. They did not give details.
Separately, France’s foreign minister hinted at divergences between Russia and Western countries currently involved in a decisive final round of talks with Iran to negotiate a deal on its nuclear drive, says a Paris report. “Whereas until now the P5+1 had a very homogeneous attitude, in the past days representatives in the negotiations have put forward a certain number of different approaches between part of the 5+1 and our Russian partners,” Fabius told a parliamentary commission.
Uranium Enrichment
DUBAI/VIENNA Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Iran would need to significantly increase its uranium enrichment capacity, underlining a gap in positions between Teheran and world powers as they hold talks aimed at clinching a nuclear accord.
Iran and six major powers – the US, Russia, France, Germany, China and Britain – have less than two weeks to bridge wide differences on the future scope of Iran’s enrichment programme and other issues if they are to meet a self-imposed July 20 deadline for a deal.
They resumed talks in Vienna last week and their negotiators continued meetings in the Austrian capital on Tuesday; but there was no immediate sign of any substantive progress.
Iran insists it needs to expand its capacity to refine uranium to fuel a planned network of atomic energy plants. The powers say Teheran must sharply reduce the capacity to prevent it being able to quickly produce a nuclear bomb using uranium enriched to a far higher degree. “Their aim is that we accept a capacity of 10,000 separative work units (SWUs), which is equivalent to 10,000 centrifuges of the older type that we already have. Our officials say we need 190,000 SWU. Perhaps this is not a need this year or in two years or five years, but this is the country’s absolute need,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his website late on Monday.
An SWU is a measurement of the effort necessary for the separation of isotopes of uranium.
Iran says its programme is for civilian purposes such as electricity generation and denies any ambitions to build an atomic bomb.
Iran expert Ali Vaez said the negotiations were now at a precarious stage.
Last week, other Western diplomats said Iran had reduced demands for the size of its future nuclear enrichment programme in the negotiations, although Western governments were urging Tehran to compromise further. They did not give details.
Separately, France’s foreign minister hinted at divergences between Russia and Western countries currently involved in a decisive final round of talks with Iran to negotiate a deal on its nuclear drive, says a Paris report. “Whereas until now the P5+1 had a very homogeneous attitude, in the past days representatives in the negotiations have put forward a certain number of different approaches between part of the 5+1 and our Russian partners,” Fabius told a parliamentary commission.
No comments:
Post a Comment