Top Iran official says enrichment on own soil a “red line”

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Dec. 31 – A top Iranian official said on Friday that Iran viewed the right to enrich uranium on its own soil as a “red line” not to be crossed during negotiations with the West over its suspected nuclear weapons program. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Dec. 31 – A top Iranian official said on Friday that Iran viewed the right to enrich uranium on its own soil as a “red line” not to be crossed during negotiations with the West over its suspected nuclear weapons program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on Tehran not to carry out enrichment because of suspicions that it may obtain highly enriched uranium which is used in atomic bombs. Seeking to break the international deadlock, Russia has proposed that Tehran carry out enrichment on Russian soil under international inspections.

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of Iran’s Majlis, or Parliament, on Friday said, however, that any proposal had to include Iran’s right to enrich uranium at home.

“The condition we put is that Iran must be able to carry out uranium enrichment inside our borders. This is our red line and we will not allow anyone to cross it”, Bahonar told reporters in Kerman province, the state-owned Mehr news agency reported.

“We are only wiling to negotiate up until this red line and in any case we are opposed to carrying out uranium enrichment on Russian soil”, he said.