Iran demands US guarantee it will lift sanctions as condition for nuclear deal

Foreign Ministry spokesman also rejects idea for regional consortium to handle uranium enrichment

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, centre, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and IAEA director general Rafael Grossi in Cairo. Reuters

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday called for a US “guarantee” of sanctions relief as a condition for a nuclear deal, with Tehran insisting the process of uranium enrichment should be kept within the country.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi visited Tehran on Saturday and presented details of a US proposal for a deal on the nuclear programme to Iranian authorities. Muscat has been mediating talks between Washington and Tehran. Iran's Foreign Minister said the country was preparing a response to the proposal.

“We want to guarantee that the sanctions are effectively lifted,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a news conference in Tehran on Monday. “So far, the American side has not wanted to clarify this issue.

“It must be clear to us how the oppressive sanctions against the Iranian people will be lifted, to ensure that past experiences are not repeated."

The White House has described the US proposal as “acceptable” and in Iran's “best interest” to accept. The New York Times reported that the proposal calls on Iran to stop enrichment and suggests the creation of a regional consortium to produce nuclear power. The idea of a regional group to handle Iran's enrichment had previously been reported.

“The consortium idea cannot in any way replace enrichment inside Iran,” Mr Baghaei said. “If some parties present such a process, we welcome it and we have no problem with participation, but such an initiative cannot replace enrichment” within the country.

His remarks came after a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran in recent months had increased its production of highly enriched uranium to about 60 per cent – close to the 90 per cent needed to develop weapons.

The US has said that it remains opposed to Iranian enrichment. “An enrichment programme can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That's our red line. No enrichment,” US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been representing Washington in the talks, told Breitbart News.

Iran, however, has maintained that uranium enrichment is a red line in negotiations.

“This issue is known as the red line of the Islamic Republic of Iran. No one can claim that Iran does not have the right to enrich, because this issue depends on its own frameworks and regulations,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said on Sunday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Cairo on Monday for meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.