View of the Isfahan nuclear plant (UCF), south of Tehran, on March 30, 2005. (Credit: Fahimi Henghameh/AFP)
Iran and the United States have divergent views on the scope and mechanism for lifting sanctions against Tehran in exchange for limiting its nuclear program, a senior Iranian official said. He added that new negotiations are scheduled for early March and could lead to an interim agreement.
In order to move the negotiations on the nuclear agreement forward, the official told Reuters that Tehran could seriously "consider a combination of measures including exporting part of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, diluting its purity level and setting up a regional consortium to oversee nuclear activities," while reaffirming that "Iran's right to uranium enrichment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty must be recognized."
The official added that the country will not give up control of its oil and mineral resources to the United States, but that U.S. companies could still participate as subcontractors in Iranian oil and gas fields.
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