Iranian FM: ‘We’ll never stop enriching uranium, it’s our pride’

Days before nuclear talks, Araghchi says Iran will never stop enriching uranium.

By World Israel News Staff

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pledged that Iran would never commit to ending uranium enrichment, just days before a fresh round of nuclear talks with European countries is set to begin.

Speaking to Fox News, Araghchi said that uranium enrichment is currently suspended due to damage sustained during Operation Rising Lion, but emphasized that the pause is only temporary.

“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up on enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” Araghchi said.

“Our enrichment is so dear to us,” he added, according to a clip from the interview posted by Fox News.

Araghchi confirmed that “our facilities have been damaged – seriously damaged,” following the conflict with Israel and bombing raids carried out by the United States.

Notably, he declined to comment on whether any enriched uranium had survived the attacks.

Media reports have indicated that Iran may have transported stockpiles of enriched uranium to secret locations prior to the bombing of key nuclear sites such as Fordow.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is intended strictly for civilian purposes, but the purity level of its enriched uranium suggests the country may be seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.

On Friday, Iranian negotiators are scheduled to meet in Istanbul with their counterparts from the UK, Germany, and France.

Writing in an op-ed published in the Financial Times, Araghchi blamed Israel for derailing ongoing nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.

Araghchi claimed that Iran and the U.S. were on the “cusp of a historic breakthrough” prior to the conflict with Israel.

The Trump administration and its European allies recently announced that Iran has until the end of August to agree to a new nuclear deal or face crippling sanctions.

Iran “would like to talk. I’m in no rush to talk because we obliterated their sites,” Trump told reporters at the White House earlier in July.