Uranium metal: Key to Iranian pressure in negotiations and password for Russian transformation
Iran is putting pressure on the talks hosted by the Austrian
capital Vienna to discuss ways to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, by
resorting to the production of uranium metal that is used in the production of
nuclear warheads for missiles.
Iranian claims
Tehran claims that it needs to produce this metal for
medical uses, but taking this step in a context of tension with the West over
its position on the implementation of the nuclear agreement makes it difficult
to believe the Iranian claims, as Tehran seeks to increase pressure on the US
administration to force it to cancel sanctions in advance of Tehran’s
production of nuclear military materials.
Iran denies its military intentions, claiming that it began
the process of research and development to produce uranium metal under the
supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Russian transformation
In a remarkable shift in the Russian position, Moscow's
delegate to international organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov,
considered that Tehran is “going very far” by producing uranium in the form of
the metal, in addition to its 60% enrichment of uranium.
In a press statement on Sunday, July 11, Ulyanov said, “I
would like to recall first of all that the Iranians showed great patience after
the United States withdrew from the deal and launched the maximum pressure
policy, and they continued to implement all their commitments to the JCPOA for
a whole year and only stopped doing so after the Trump administration attempted
an oil embargo. After that, Tehran began to retreat from the foundations of the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”
“We have always refrained from harsh criticism of Tehran, as
we understood that it was responding to the horrible policy of maximum
pressure...usually we used the word ‘sorry’ when suspending Tehran's reversal
of the principles of the nuclear agreement, but now there are concerns,” he
added.
Ulyanov noted that Iran appears to be going too far, as for
the first time, a non-nuclear country enriched uranium to 60% and produced
uranium metal, adding, “The sooner we reach an agreement on reviving the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, the sooner we will end this situation.”
It is worth noting that in April, negotiations were launched
under the auspices of the European Union to save the agreement on the nuclear
program in light of the United States’ withdrawal from it since 2018 during the
term of former President Donald Trump, who imposed economic sanctions on the
Iranian side in response to the latter reducing its nuclear commitments.
Official talks are taking place between Iran, Russia, China,
Britain, France and Germany, while the United States is participating in the
dialogue without any direct contacts with the Iranian side.
Tehran refuses to negotiate directly with the administration
of US President Joe Biden before the lifting of difficult economic sanctions,
while the Washington insists on the importance of Tehran's commitment to what
it has retracted from before.
In addition, Tehran-backed militias launch attacks on US
military bases in Iraq to put pressure on the United States over the nuclear
talks file.
Since the beginning of this year, military bases in Iraq
have been subjected to 45 offensive operations, 13 of which were carried out by
drones.
