Uranium enrichment is Iran inalienable right: Jalili

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili has stressed that uranium enrichment is an inalienable right for the Islamic Republic.

“According to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, enrichment is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s inalienable right and Iran is a member of the NPT and there is nothing wrong when enrichment is being used for peaceful purposes,” Jalili said.

He made the comments in Iran’s Majlis (parliament) on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming talks with the P5+1 group in Moscow on June 18 and 19.

Iran’s five-point proposal package is scheduled to be discussed in the Moscow negotiations.

Jalili also referred to a religious decree issued by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, which bans the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Jalili said the decree should be a starting point for global nuclear disarmament, adding that threats and pressure against Iran have proved ineffective.

The Iranian official said the P5+1 — the US, Britain, Russia, France, and China plus Germany — and Iran should cooperate, saying Tehran’s activities are all under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He concluded that Tehran is ready to hold the upcoming talks in the presence of journalists so that the public can judge the talks.

The US and its Western allies are pressuring Iran by imposing sanctions as they accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

However, the IAEA has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran’s civilian nuclear energy program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.