Translated Article (Exact):
New Dhaka Times: Desk Report
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly questioned, “Who gave you the right to interfere in our uranium enrichment?” He made this comment on Wednesday during a speech marking the death anniversary of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.
According to Ayatollah Khamenei’s statement, despite the arrogant U.S. leadership repeatedly calling for Iran to halt its nuclear program, Iran remains firm on continuing uranium enrichment. Reuters reports that Iran is making decisions on this issue based on its national interest and remains steadfast despite American pressure.
Khamenei said the decision on whether Iran’s nuclear program will continue lies solely with Iran. Although there have been multiple meetings between Iran and the U.S. on this matter, he made it clear that Iran will only make such decisions through its Supreme Leader.
Recently, five rounds of meetings were held between Iranian and American representatives in an attempt to reach a potential agreement. However, no consensus was reached on several issues, including uranium enrichment. Although the U.S. proposed reducing the level of uranium enrichment, Tehran rejected the proposal.
In 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. In response, Iran announced it would increase its level of uranium enrichment. According to Khamenei, stopping uranium enrichment goes against Iran’s interests and contradicts the country’s self-reliance and “we can do it” policy.
Khamenei’s remarks come at a time when, following five rounds of talks mediated by Oman, the U.S. has submitted a new nuclear deal proposal to Iran. The proposal demands Iran to halt its uranium enrichment activities inside the country and to send the already stockpiled uranium abroad.
Additionally, according to a recently leaked confidential report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 50% over the past three months. The agency states that Iran’s stockpile now stands at 408 kg, which is unprecedented for a non-nuclear weapon state and is nearing the level required to build a nuclear weapon.
In 2015, Iran signed a nuclear deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world powers and the European Union. The deal was primarily aimed at monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities to ensure it could not build nuclear weapons.
In exchange, Western countries eased some sanctions imposed on Iran. However, when former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018, the agreement’s effectiveness came into question. Later, although current President Joe Biden tried to reactivate the deal, there has been little progress.
In January of this year, Trump assumed office for a second term and is trying to establish a new nuclear deal with Iran. Meanwhile, officials from both countries have held several indirect talks in Oman and Austria.