An international lawyer tells Press TVthat Irans right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes is unquestionable under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).Alfred Lambremont Webre said Monday that Iranian officials have made it clear that they will not go after weapons-grade uranium enrichment, citing Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khameneis fatwa on the prohibition of nuclear arms production and development.
I think things are very clear that statements have been made that Iran will not be going forward to enrich at weapons grade, which is over 90 percent. It will be doing under 20 percent down to 5 percent, which is enough for power enrichment, he said.
There is no question that under the NPT Iran has the right to enrich uranium of non-weapons grade, that is, of power-station grade, which you would say would be between 5 percent and certainly under 20 percent, he added.
He said that there was no evidence that Iran was intending to develop nuclear weapons, adding the Islamic Republic was enriching for nuclear power as its basic legal right.
Pointing to Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarifs remarks that Tehran is prepared to start negotiations over its nuclear energy program if the US lifts illegal sanctions against the country, Webre said embargoes against Iran constituted an obstacle to the talks.
As the foreign minister said, you do not negotiate over the air. There doesnt seem to be any major problems as far as I can see in terms of the terms, only what the sanctions, the lifting of the sanctions, will be, he said.
In an interview with ABCs This Week program on Sunday, Zarif said, Iran is prepared to start negotiating.... We are willing to engage in negotiations. Of course the United States also needs to do certain things very rapidly.
One [condition] is to dismantle its illegal sanctions against Iran that are targeting ordinary Iranians, he stated.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and European Union using the claim as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran. The bans come on top of four rounds of US-instigated UN Security Council sanctions against Iran under the same pretext.
Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, stressing that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
By Press TV
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