A handout picture of the nuclear water reactor of Arak, south of capital Tehran (Credit: Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AFP)
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned domestic news agency, that Iran, the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have taken Russia's proposal to remove surplus enriched uranium from Iran seriously, but the matter has not yet reached specifics.
"We have conveyed this proposal to both the Iranian side and the American side, and the IAEA is aware of it," Ryabkov said. "Its purpose is to solve two problems at once: one is connected with the fact that the Iranian side, as we understand it, is firmly insisting on the importance of preserving the right to carry out enrichment work on its territory; and on the other hand, we see that there are opponents of Tehran who are expressing great concern about the accumulation on its territory of uranium enriched above the levels that are usually used in the manufacture of fuel for nuclear reactors."
The diplomat argued that both of these problems could be solved if Russia imported uranium from Iran and produced fuel from it or managed it in such a way that it becomes a commercial product.
"Considering that it is still unclear how the dialogue will proceed, whether it will proceed at all, and if it does, in what format, we have not yet reached the specifics of such practical measures," Ryabkov noted. "But all interested parties approached this with attention and, perhaps, we can say, perceived this as a reflection of the seriousness of our efforts, the seriousness of our intentions in this regard."
Two days before Israel attacked Iran, launching a 12-day war with the country in June, Russia had said that it was ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to help narrow U.S.-Iranian differences over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
One week before that, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had told U.S. President Donald Trump that he was ready to use Russia's close partnership with Iran to help advance the nuclear negotiations.
Moscow has acquired weapons from Iran for use in its war in Ukraine and, earlier this year, it entered into a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Tehran.
Israel insisted, despite U.S. intelligence to the contrary, that Iran was close to acquiring a nuclear weapon — a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied — and subsequently launched a surprise attack on June 13 against Iranian nuclear and military installations, killing several senior officials and scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear program as well as dozens of civilians.
U.S. President Donald Trump joined the military operation with American airstrikes on the night of June 21, targeting the underground enrichment site at Fordow and other facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
On July 2, around a week after the U.S.-brokered cease-fire came into effect, Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the IAEA, following a series of accusations against it in the wake of the recent war with Israel.
