Iran Says It Won’t Transfer Enriched Uranium Abroad as US Talks Near Endgame

A senior Iranian official said Tehran has no intention of transferring enriched uranium abroad, underscoring a key sticking point as US-Iran talks to end the conflict enter what media reports describe as their final phase.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, told Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency that “Iran has no intention of transferring enriched uranium to a third country,” CNN and other foreign media reported on May 29.

The US and Iran have provisionally agreed to a memorandum of understanding centered on a 60-day extension of the ceasefire and the start of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, according to the reports. A draft of the MOU calls for a roughly two-month pause during which the two sides would normalize passage through the Strait of Hormuz and begin full-scale nuclear talks.

The handling of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, is a core issue in the negotiations. The two countries remain sharply divided over what to do with about 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched HEU held by Iran.

President Donald Trump said on May 25 that he could accept a plan to handle Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile either inside Iran or in a third country.

Park Su-rim, Hankyung.com reporter paksr365@hankyung.com