Uranium enrichment is Iran’s ‘guaranteed right’

Uranium enrichment is Iran’s “guaranteed” right in a final deal over its nuclear energy program, says Pepe Escobar, a Brazilian investigative journalist and author.

Since an interim deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany was announced in Geneva on November 24, the White House has kept saying that Washington does not recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium.

US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement on Tuesday that Washington would only be prepared to discuss Iran’s enrichment on a very limited scale as part of a final agreement over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who led the US delegation in nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva, also said in a TV interview on Wednesday that Washington “would consider a limited, modest enrichment program if it is attached to real practical needs.”

“Iran has a right to enrich uranium because it subscribes to the NPT [the Non-Proliferation Treaty],” said Escobar in a phone interview with Press TV on Thursday.

According to Article IV of the NPT Iran, as a signatory to the treaty, has “the inalienable right” to “develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination.”

“In the definitive deal [over Iran’s nuclear energy program] which is going to be hatched next year, of course the right to enrich will be included because the NPT guarantees that to all subscribers,” Escobar said.

“The key question is chemical weapons and nuclear weapons-free Middle East. There is absolutely no chance in the immediate future of any serious negotiations about that because Israel would say ‘No.’ They have already said ‘No’ for decades,” he added.

The US not only ignores Article VI of the NPT, which says nuclear states should take “effective measures” toward “nuclear disarmament,” but also continues to support the Tel Aviv regime which is a blatant violator of the NPT and is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.