MP: Iran to Resume 20 % Enrichment if N. Deal not Achieved
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s entire nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment to a level of 20 percent purity, will be restarted if Tehran and six world powers fail to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal, a senior Iranian lawmaker said.
Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Sunday, Chairman of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi underlined that Iran will not reconsider position on its nuclear program in a 4-month extension of talks with world powers.
“The Americans have been informed… that if an agreement is not achieved ultimately, Iran will return to the first step , meaning that 20-percent enrichment will be resumed and the Arak heavy-water reactor will be also activated rapidly,” he stated.
The lawmaker noted that failure to reach a deal will also force Iran to begin making the new generation of centrifuges without any limitations, only under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran and the group of six world powers (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) agreed to keep holding talks on Tehran’s nuclear program for four more months after missing a self-imposed July 20 deadline to reach a comprehensive agreement.
After nearly three weeks of intensive diplomatic negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna that began on July 2, the two sides decided to extend the nuclear talks until November 24 in the hope of clinching a final deal to resolve the dacade-long standoff on Iran’s nuclear energy program.
