TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s state media said on Friday that the Islamic republic would maintain the right to enrich uranium under any final agreement with the United States following 60 days of negotiations.
“Iran will negotiate on the nuclear program solely within the framework of the Islamic Republic’s fundamental principles, and issues such as Iran’s right to enrich uranium and the retention of enriched material... will be emphasized with a view to their inclusion in the final agreement,” according to the official IRNA news agency.
IRNA also said on Friday that Tehran would not give up control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran makes no commitment in this text to cede the management of the strait or the restoration of conditions that existed prior to the American and Israeli military aggression,” according to the news agency, which referred to “the broad outlines of the current text” being finalized.
Traffic through Hormuz, a vital global shipping route, has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of war with the US and Israel on 28 February.
Iran, which has only allowed a trickle of ships to pass through the strait, has insisted that vessels obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he had called off planned strikes on Iran and claimed a deal to end the war could be signed in the coming days.
But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the country has “not reached a final conclusion” on an agreement.
On Friday, Iran’s Mehr news agency, quoting a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, published what it said was the text of a draft deal being finalized.
The draft, it said, would end the war on all fronts including Lebanon, see the release of $24 billion in Iran’s frozen assets, and set a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.
It also includes the “suspension of sanctions on the sale” of Iran’s oil and petrochemical products, and “the complete lifting of the US naval blockade” on Iranian ports, which has been in place since 13 April.
Mehr said the draft underscores the necessity for the US and its allies to pay Iran reparations for damage caused by the war and “to present reconstruction plans for Iran amounting to at least $300 billion.”
“Final negotiations will not begin before the release of half of Iran’s blocked funds, suspension of Iran’s oil sanctions, and lifting of the naval blockade,” it added.
Iran’s nuclear program has been a contentious issue for Washington, which has long insisted Tehran should give up its enrichment capabilities and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium abroad.