Could halt uranium enrichment for a year if US meets certain terms

29/5/2025 6:06

Iran may pause uranium

enrichment if the U.S. releases frozen Iranian funds and

recognises Tehran's right to refine uranium for civilian use

under a "political deal" that could lead to a broader nuclear

accord, two Iranian official sources said.



The sources, close to the negotiating team, said on

Wednesday a "political understanding with the United States

could be reached soon" if Washington accepted Tehran's

conditions. One of the sources said the matter "has not been

discussed yet" during the talks with the United States.



The sources told Reuters that under this arrangement, Tehran

would halt uranium enrichment for a year, ship part of its

highly enriched stock abroad or convert it into fuel plates for

civilian nuclear purposes.



A temporary pause to enrichment would be a way to

overcome an impasse over clashing red lines after five rounds of

talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to resolve a decades-long

dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme.



U.S. officials have repeatedly said that any new nuclear

deal with Iran - to replace a failed 2015 accord between Tehran

and six world powers - must include a commitment to scrap

enrichment, viewed as a potential pathway to developing nuclear

bombs.



The Islamic Republic has repeatedly denied such intentions,

saying it wants nuclear energy only for civilian purposes, and

has publicly rejected Washington's demand to scrap enrichment as

an attack on its national sovereignty.



In Washington, a U.S. official told Reuters the proposal

aired by the Iranian sources had not been brought to the

negotiating table to date. The U.S. State Department did not

immediately respond to requests for comment on this article.



Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said Iranian Foreign

Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei denied Reuters report and

said "enrichment in Iran is a non-negotiable principle."



The Iranian sources said Tehran would not agree to

dismantling of its nuclear programme or infrastructure or

sealing of its nuclear installations as demanded by U.S.

President Donald Trump's administration.



Instead, they said, Trump must publicly recognise Iran's

sovereign right to enrichment as a member of the nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty and authorise a release of Iranian oil

revenues frozen by sanctions, including $6 billion in Qatar.



Iran has not yet been able to access the $6 billion parked

in a Qatar bank that was unfrozen under a U.S.-Iranian prisoner

swap in 2023, during U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.



"Tehran wants its funds to be transferred to Iran with no

conditions or limitations. If that means lifting some sanctions,

then it should be done too," the second source said.



The sources said the political agreement would give the

current nuclear diplomacy a greater chance to yield results by

providing more time to hammer out a consensus on hard-to-bridge

issues needed for a permanent treaty.



"The idea is not to reach an interim deal, it would (rather)

be a political agreement to show both sides are seeking to

defuse tensions," said the second Iranian source.



Western diplomats are sceptical of chances for U.S.-Iranian

reconciliation on enrichment. They warn that a temporary

political agreement would face resistance from European powers

unless Iran displayed a serious commitment to scaling back its

nuclear activity with verification by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.



Even if gaps over enrichment narrow, lifting sanctions

quickly would remain difficult. The U.S. favours phasing out

nuclear-related sanctions while Iran demands immediate removal

of all U.S.-imposed curbs that impair its oil-based economy.



Asked whether critical U.S. sanctions, reimposed since 2018

when Trump withdrew Washington from the 2015 pact, could be

rescinded during an enrichment pause, the first source said:

"There have been discussions over how to lift the sanctions

during the five rounds of talks."



Dozens of Iranian institutions vital to Iran's economy,

including its central bank and national oil company, have been

sanctioned since 2018 for, according to Washington, "supporting

terrorism or weapons proliferation".



Iran's clerical establishment is grappling with mounting

crises - energy and water shortages, a plunge in the value of

its currency, losses among regional militia proxies in wars with

Israel, and growing fears of an Israeli strike on its nuclear

sites - all exacerbated by Trump's hardline stance.



Trump's revival of a "maximum pressure" campaign against

Tehran since he re-entered the White House in January has

included tightened sanctions and threats to bomb Iran if current

negotiations yield no deal.



Iranian officials told Reuters last week that Tehran's

leadership "has no better option" than a new deal to avert

economic chaos at home that could jeopardise clerical rule.



Nationwide protests over social repression and economic

hardship in recent years met with harsh crackdowns but exposed

the Islamic Republic's vulnerability to public discontent and

drew more Western sanctions over human rights violations.