Iran will not stop uranium enrichment – FM

Abbas Araghchi says Tehran will not bow to US pressure to abandon its nuclear program

Iran will not stop uranium enrichment regardless of any pressure from the US and its allies, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said.

The diplomat told Al Jazeera on Saturday that US and Israeli airstrikes in June had failed to knock out the enrichment program, which Iran maintains is entirely civilian. While some “nuclear materials remain buried under the rubble,” the technology “remains intact,” he said.

“We cannot stop uranium enrichment, and what is not achieved by war cannot be achieved through political means,” Araghchi said.

He added that Iran remains open to reaching a deal with the US through indirect negotiations, but only if Washington stops setting what he described as “impossible and unacceptable preconditions.”

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Araghchi also said that Iran’s missile program was not up for discussion. “It would be foolish if one hands over their weapons,” he said.

The Omani-mediated US-Iran negotiations were suspended after Israel began its 12-day bombing campaign earlier this year.

Last month, the EU and UK reimposed sanctions on Iran that had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), which the US withdrew from during President Donald Trump’s first term. Tehran has since said it is no longer bound by the JCPOA, which expired in October.