Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking to nuclear officials and experts in Tehran on June 11, 2023. Photo: Khamenei’s office.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday stated that Tehran has no problem with signing a nuclear deal with the West but stressed that it should not impact the infrastructure of the country’s nuclear industry.
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have been put on hold since the start of September’s nationwide demonstrations in Iran and the security forces’ violent crackdown on the protesters.
Khamenei on Sunday visited an exhibition in Tehran showcasing Iranian nuclear achievements, and met with Iranian scientists and officials in the field of nuclear technology. The Iranian supreme leader lauded the advancements made in the nuclear industry, while stressing the need to keep the industry’s infrastructure intact if an agreement were to be reached with the West.
“There is nothing wrong with the agreement, but the infrastructure of the nuclear industry should not be touched,” Iranian state media cited Khamenei as saying.
Khamenei denied the country having any interest in developing nuclear weapons, saying that such claims are used by Tehran’s “enemies” to impede its scientific progress.
“If this was not an Islamic basis and we had the will to produce nuclear weapons, we would have done so and the enemies also know that they could not stop us,” he added.
The JCPOA was signed between Britain, France, China, Germany, Russia, Iran, and the United States in 2015, offering Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to ensure it does not enrich enough uranium to develop a nuclear weapon.
Former US president Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018, believing it was too lenient on Iran.
Sporadic talks, mediated by the European Union, had been held between Iran and the US to restore the JCPOA since April 2021, before coming to a stalemate in September last year.
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have been put on hold since the start of September’s nationwide demonstrations in Iran and the security forces’ violent crackdown on the protesters.
Khamenei on Sunday visited an exhibition in Tehran showcasing Iranian nuclear achievements, and met with Iranian scientists and officials in the field of nuclear technology. The Iranian supreme leader lauded the advancements made in the nuclear industry, while stressing the need to keep the industry’s infrastructure intact if an agreement were to be reached with the West.
“There is nothing wrong with the agreement, but the infrastructure of the nuclear industry should not be touched,” Iranian state media cited Khamenei as saying.
Khamenei denied the country having any interest in developing nuclear weapons, saying that such claims are used by Tehran’s “enemies” to impede its scientific progress.
“If this was not an Islamic basis and we had the will to produce nuclear weapons, we would have done so and the enemies also know that they could not stop us,” he added.
The JCPOA was signed between Britain, France, China, Germany, Russia, Iran, and the United States in 2015, offering Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to ensure it does not enrich enough uranium to develop a nuclear weapon.
Former US president Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018, believing it was too lenient on Iran.
Sporadic talks, mediated by the European Union, had been held between Iran and the US to restore the JCPOA since April 2021, before coming to a stalemate in September last year.
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