'Tehran will continue nuclear enrichment programmes', says Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to UN

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said Iran's nuclear enrichment programmes will continue and it is their right as a "responsible member" of the  Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iravani made the comments during an interview with CBS News on Sunday.

 

Responding to a question on whether Iran will continue its nuclear enrichment programmes, Iran's UN representative said, "... to preserve our peaceful nuclear activity, will remain always in a peaceful manner. So the enrichment is our suright, and an inalienable right, and we want to implement this right." When Iravani was specifically asked whether Iran now plans to restart enriching uranium, Iravani said, "I think that enrichment will not - never stop." 

 

Iravani said Tehran is ready for negotiations, however, the conditions now were not proper to start a fresh round of talks. "we are ready for the negotiation, but after this aggression, it is not proper condition for a new round of the negotiation, and there is no request for negotiation and meeting with the president (Trump)," Iravani said. 

 

The Iranian ambassador however took exception to Trump administration's conditions for negotiations and said the US cannot dictate its policies towards Iran. "If they are ready for negotiation, they will find us ready for that, but if they want to dictate us, it is impossible for any negotiation with them," he said. 

 

The ambassador's statement comes a day after the UN's nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran could resume its nuclear enrichment programme within months, despite recent strikes on its nuclear infrastructure by the United States and Israel. US President Donald Trump had claimed America "successfully obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities. 

Middle East