Iran offers nuclear enrichment pause, stockpile moves in bid for deal

Iranian officials have proposed a series of measures to advance nuclear negotiations with the United States, including pausing uranium enrichment, moving portions of the country’s stockpiles offshore, and exploring potential business deals, though they have stopped short of agreeing to halt enrichment entirely. The talks, held in Geneva, aim to avert a possible US military strike, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Iran’s slate of proposals gets closer to the core issue but doesn’t deliver the definitive halt the president has demanded.

According to US, Iranian and regional diplomats, Iran has said it is open to sending some of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium—crucial fuel for a nuclear weapon—to an outside party such as Russia, which would address one important US concern. The bulk of the stockpile is currently thought to be buried under the rubble of nuclear sites pounded by the US and Israel in June.

While Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, it is the only country without nuclear weapons to have produced 60%-enriched uranium, a purity close to the 90% needed to build a weapon.

Iranian officials also have signaled in conversations with regional diplomats that they might offer to pause enrichment for up to three years, diplomats said. That promise wouldn’t change much—Iran is believed to have stopped enriching uranium after US strikes crippled its main nuclear facilities in June—and falls short of US demands that it halt enrichment altogether.

Iran also floated a proposal at the first meeting, in early February, to set up a regional consortium to produce fuel plates from enriched uranium that it could use, diplomats said. So far, though, Iran has insisted on keeping the production process in the country, a nonstarter for the US, the diplomats said.

Some regional diplomats are thinking bigger: a multipoint plan that includes everything from nonaggression commitments to business deals.

President Donald Trump, who has positioned a substantial naval force near Iran’s coast, has repeatedly emphasized that any deal must eliminate Tehran’s nuclear weapons capability. “I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump told reporters on February 16. “They want to make a deal.”

Iran’s proposals address some core US concerns. Diplomats report that Tehran is open to sending part of its highly enriched uranium stockpile—essential for a nuclear weapon—to an outside party such as Russia. The bulk of this stockpile is believed to be buried beneath sites damaged by US and Israeli strikes in June. Iran has also signaled willingness to pause enrichment for up to three years and discussed creating a regional consortium to produce nuclear fuel plates, though it insists on keeping production domestic—an unacceptable condition for Washington.

By Vafa Guliyeva