Iran insists on right to enrichment, ready for confidence-building

Recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium is key for nuclear talks with the U.S. to succeed, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday.

American and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, aimed at reviving diplomacy amid a U.S. naval buildup near Iran and Tehran's vows of a harsh response if attacked.

"Zero enrichment can never be accepted by us. Hence, we need to focus on discussions that accept enrichment inside Iran while building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes," Araqchi said.

Iran and the U.S. held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, which stalled mainly due to disagreements over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.

Tehran has since said it has halted enrichment activity, which the U.S. views as a possible pathway to nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

A diplomat in the region briefed by Iran told Reuters on Friday that Tehran was open to discussing the "level and purity" of enrichment as well as other arrangements, as long as it was allowed to enrich uranium on its soil and would be granted sanctions relief in addition to military de-escalation.

"Iran's insistence on enrichment is not merely technical or economic (...) it is rooted in a desire for independence and dignity," Araqchi said. "No one has the right to tell the Iranian nation what it should or should not have."

The minister also said that Iran's missile programme, which the U.S. would like to include in negotiations, had never been part of the agenda.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on Sunday that talks with the U.S. were a "step forward" and that Tehran wanted its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to be respected.

The date and venue of the next round of talks will be determined in consultation with Oman and might not be Muscat, Araqchi said.

-Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Kevin Liffey/Reuters