Russia willing to remove enriched uranium from Iran
Moscow is willing to take what remains of Iran’s enriched uranium, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
“At the same time, it is important to note that the aforementioned stockpiles belong to Iran. Their presence in no way contradicts Tehran’s obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Zakharova stressed during a briefing on Wednesday, as quoted by Kommersant.
Tehran has full rights to the material, including deciding whether to remove it from Iranian territory and where to export it, she added.
The statement comes amid international efforts to contain the crisis between Tehran and Washington. Over the past weeks, Washington has deployed additional air defense systems to bases across the Middle East, including Patriot and THAAD batteries, and sent an ‘armada’ led by the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Arabian Sea.
At the same time, Washington has been signaling that while the immediate threat of military action has eased, the US retains the capacity to respond if needed. The core US demands include limits on uranium enrichment and restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported on Monday that the likelihood of an immediate US strike on Tehran has diminished, and diplomacy has been given a new chance after intensive mediation – primarily by Russia and Türkiye, along with Qatar.
Moscow first suggested removing enriched uranium from Iran last summer, saying it could remove and reprocess it and then return it to Iran’s nuclear facilities. Russia also informed Iran, the US, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its proposal. However, the Iranian authorities did not publicly give a definite response.
In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia remains ready to help avoid escalation between the United States and Iran.
