A day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu urged the world to press for a halt of all Iranian uranium enrichment, a senior EU diplomat said Western governments are considering allowing Tehran to continue enriching some uranium as part of a possible deal with the Islamic Republic.
The new stance – a reaction to President Hassan Rouhani’s overtures to the West – would mean backtracking on several UN Security Council resolutions calling for a complete halt to all enrichment because of concern this was being done to develop nuclear weapons.
In an interview with Reuters, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said: “I believe part of the game is that if the Iranians prove that whatever they are doing is peaceful, it will, as I understand, be possible for them to conduct it.”
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Iran’s parliament, dominated by conservatives, strongly endorsed President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic bid to break down mistrust at the United Nations in New York last week, which ended with an historic phone call with US President Barack Obama, Iranian media said.
The backing from the assembly, controlled by political factions deeply loyal to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a further sign that Rouhani has the backing of the Iranian establishment.
Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran, has yet to publicly comment on Rouhani’s trip.
Speaking to the United Nations General Assemblyon Tuesday, Rouhani said that nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction “have no place in Iran’s security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions.”
Iran has been hit with painful American, European Union and UN sanctions for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
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US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was interested in more than words from the Iranians.
“We hope that the new Iranian government will show and not just say they are prepared to engage substantively, and tomorrow is an early test of that proposition,” she said.
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