Nuclear deal back? Iran said – if all sanctions are removed, it will ‘dilute’ uranium, but what about the 400 kg stock?

Iran Ready for Backfoot: iran Iran has indicated that if the US lifts all sanctions imposed on Tehran, it will reduce its uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent. This statement has come at a time when nuclear talks have started again between Iran and America after a long tension.

Mohammad Islami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, said on Monday that the decision to reduce uranium enrichment to lower levels would depend on whether sanctions are completely lifted in return. However, it is not yet clear whether this will include only US sanctions or all international sanctions imposed on Iran.

Why were talks with Iran stopped earlier?

In fact, last Friday there were talks between Iran and America in Oman. This conversation took place after a year of tension. Earlier in June, the situation had worsened due to the Israeli attack. At that time both the countries were about to hold the sixth round of talks for a new nuclear agreement.

What is the meaning of uranium enrichment?

To ‘dilute’ uranium means to reduce the level of enrichment by adding other substances to it, so that it does not go above the prescribed limit. Under the nuclear deal signed in 2015, Iran was not allowed to enrich uranium more than 3.67 percent. But, before the attacks by America and Israel in June 2024, Iran had enriched uranium up to 60 percent, which is much more than that limit.

Is Iran making nuclear weapons?

Western countries, especially America, have long feared that Iran is moving towards making nuclear weapons. However, Iran denies these allegations and says that its nuclear program is completely peaceful. According to the United Nations’ nuclear monitoring body, Iran is the only country in the world which, despite not having nuclear weapons, is enriching uranium up to 60 percent.

Where did Iran’s 400 kg nukes go?

Another big question is that where is the more than 400 kg of highly enriched uranium that Iran had before the end of the war. UN inspectors last recorded its stock on June 10. Experts believe that if this uranium is enriched up to 90 percent, more than nine atomic bombs can be made from it.

US President Donald Trump has been continuously demanding a complete ban on uranium enrichment by Iran. But Tehran says it cannot accept this condition, because it is more harmful for it than the 2015 agreement.

What is Iran’s argument?

Iran insists that under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it has the full right to pursue a peaceful civilian nuclear program. More than 190 countries of the world including Iran have signed this treaty.

It is noteworthy that in 2015, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was agreed upon between Iran, America, China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the European Union. Under this, Iran limited uranium enrichment and in return the restrictions imposed on it were removed. But Donald Trump, in his first term, took America out of this agreement in 2018. After this, Iran also stopped following many conditions of the agreement.