Washington’s proposal to Tehran includes uranium enrichment on Iran’s soil, a report says, contradicting US President Donald Trump’s public assertions that the Islamic Republic must abandon its enrichment activities altogether.
American news website Axios published the report on Tuesday, citing “two sources with direct knowledge” of the details of the plan.
The US says it submitted the proposal to Iran via Oman on Saturday. The same day saw Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirm that the country had received “elements of” an American proposal via his Omani counterpart, and note that the Islamic Republic would respond keeping in mind the nation’s rights and principles.
‘Three-percent enrichment cap’
Citing one of the sources as detailing the proposal, Axios said it would let the Islamic Republic enrich uranium up to a “three-percent” purity level for a period, whose length would be determined later.
A standing deal involving the Islamic Republic and other countries sets out a 3.6-percent enrichment cap.
The US, however, left the agreement, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018, returning all the illegal and unilateral sanctions that it had lifted, and levying even more economic bans on Iran. The Islamic Republic did not retaliate for two years, observing a period of “strategic patience,” but was eventually forced to resort to a raft of countermeasures that increased the country’s enrichment levels.
Observers, meanwhile, note the discrepancy between the purported details of the proposal and the public and widely-advertised remarks that have been made by American officials.
Senior American officials such as regional envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have insisted on “zero-level” enrichment on the part of the Islamic Republic.
The US has, on multiple occasions, also called for the total dismantlement of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, with none other than President Donald Trump, himself, even threatening to completely destroy the facilities.
Iranian officials have responded to the rhetoric by categorically ruling out either prospect and underlining the imperative nature of recognition of the country’s rights.
Most recently, nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami identified enrichment as the “basis and foundation” of any civilian nuclear energy program, including that of Iran.
“[The isotope separation and enrichment processes] have to be there [in the first place] so you can develop [your required] products, and render an extensive spectrum of services to your society,” he said during a televised interview on Monday.
Also on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Bagahaei vowed that the country would continue enriching uranium, echoing remarks by Araghchi, who has underlined that the Islamic Republic would keep up its peaceful enrichment activities with or without a deal with the US.
Officials, including Araghchi, have also asserted that “none of” the country’s nuclear facilities would face deconstruction, no matter Western states’ and their allies’ insistence.
‘Downsizing of nuclear infrastructures, rollback of developmental efforts’
Axios’ report further pointed out that, while permitting limited enrichment, the American proposal prohibits Iran from “building any new enrichment facilities,” and even mandates “non-operation” of the Islamic Republic’s underground enrichment sites for “a period of time agreed by the parties.”
It also goes as far as obliging Tehran to “dismantle critical infrastructure for conversion and processing of uranium.”
The proposal, meanwhile, says Iran would have to halt new research and development on centrifuges.
‘Regional consortium’
Additionally, the plan envisages the formation of a “regional consortium” hosting enrichment activities.
Also on Monday, Eslami noted that the Americans had been coming up with the same demands from Iran, including the development of such a consortium, even before the victory of the country’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.
One such association was even formed prior to the Revolution’s victory, but Iran was denied its membership due to the body’s being a European one, the official said. Even following Iran’s eventual membership of the consortium through an Iranian-French enterprise, the country was faced with prohibitions concerning the development of its nuclear industry that have lasted to date, Eslami added.
‘IAEA’s Additional Protocol’
Furthermore, the report said the proposal mandates Iran’s adherence to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Additional Protocol that enables the agency to carry out “short-notice” inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Iran signed the protocol in 2003, but the document has not been ratified by the Iranian Parliament yet.
The Islamic Republic began submitting to it on a voluntary basis as a goodwill gesture, but was forced to suspend its implementation amid the US’s sabotage of the nuclear deal.
‘Conditioned sanction relief’
Meanwhile, the proposal conditions the termination of the US’s illegal and unilateral sanctions against Iran on its “demonstrating real commitment.”
Such commitment has to be met with Washington and the IAEA’s “satisfaction,” Axios wrote.
Observers note that the proposal’s reported insistence on the United States’ “satisfaction” with Iran’s commitment comes while the Islamic Republic’s verifiable and satisfactory commitment to the JCPOA was met with the US’s withdrawal and violation of the deal.
Nor could the country’s two-year-long period of “strategic patience” — during which it would refrain from resorting to retaliatory nuclear measures in the hope of Washington’s return to the JCPOA — guarantee American cooperation.
Also on Monday, Baghaei noted that, so far during five rounds of Omani-mediated indirect talks, the United States had failed to provide sufficient assurances in terms of when and how sanctions would be lifted.
