Iran unlikely to surrender enriched uranium over proposed peace deal: Reports

Iran is likely to refuse surrender of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of a broader peace agreement being negotiated with the United States to end the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as per reports.

The remarks came after US President Donald Trump announced that Washington and Tehran were close to finalising a deal.

Iran reportedly possesses around 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level close to weapons-grade, as per the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Regarding the data, Israel has consistently argued that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile could potentially be a major security threat for them. The reports suggested that this was one of the major reasons behind the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran earlier this year. 

However, two US officials told The New York Times that Iran is set to surrender the stockpiles of the enriched uranium as part of the proposed peace plan to end the ongoing war in the Middle East. Detailed discussions on how Iran would transfer, dilute, or otherwise neutralise the material are expected to take place in a later round of nuclear talks once the broader agreement is formally reached, they added, as per reports. 

One of the possible frameworks used was the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated under the former US President Barack Obama, when Iran transferred large portions of its enriched uranium stockpile to Russia. 

This development comes after Mojtaba Khamenei earlier directed that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile should not be sent out of the country.

However, there has been no official confirmation from Iran regarding the surrender of enriched uranium, while reports also suggest that Tehran remains unwilling to compromise on the issue.