Iran must stop all kinds of nuclear enrichment, says Marco Rubio
Iran has refused to the US’ demand to abandon its nuclear programme, adding that it has the right to enrich uranium under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Brushing aside Iran’s argument that it needs to enrich uranium for power generation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday (May 1) that the country must abandon its nuclear programme and import enriched uranium for electricity if need be.
Iran's missiles only for nuclear use
Speaking to Fox News in an interview, Rubio also demanded that Iran must also provide access to US inspectors to its nuclear facilities, including military ones. Alleging that Iran’s long-range missile development programme has no other purpose other than being used as nuclear weapons, he said that the country must put an end to it.
"They have to walk away from sponsoring terrorists, they have to walk away from helping the Houthis (in Yemen), they have to walk away from building long-range missiles that have no purpose to exist other than having nuclear weapons, and they have to walk away from enrichment," Rubio told the channel.
Also read: Iran, US hold talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme
Rubio said that if one has the technology to enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent, then within a few weeks, technology for enriching it to 20 per cent then 60 per cent and then the 80 and 90 per cent - required for weapon- can be achieved.
However, Iran has consistently refused to the US’ demand to abandon its nuclear program,me adding that it has the right to enrich uranium under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It also denied that it is trying to make a nuclear bomb.
Also read: Missile fuel chemical may be behind Iranian port blast; death toll 25
Iran-US nuclear talks postponed
Rubio’s comments come against the backdrop of the scheduled fourth round of Iran-US nuclear talks being postponed following Iran’s demand that the US ease sanctions on it.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that the scheduled fourth round of talks due to take place in Rome on Saturday had been postponed and can resume "depending on the U.S. approach".
After the talks were postponed, US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that countries that buy oil from Iran will face US sanctions and will be barred from doing business with the United States in any form.