Russia has offered to help convert Iran’s stockpiles of weapons-ready uranium to fuel-grade material in order to move along a potential Iran-U.S. nuclear deal, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian media that the Kremlin would step up its efforts to help reach a deal addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Reuters reported. In recent weeks, talks between Tehran and Washington have stalled out, as Iran insists on at least allowing civilian-grade enrichment while President Donald Trump has said no enrichment will be permitted under any new deal.
“We are ready to provide assistance to both Washington and Tehran, not only politically, not only in the form of ideas that could be of use in the negotiation process, but also practically: for example, through the export of excess nuclear material produced by Iran and its subsequent adaptation to the production of fuel for reactors,” Ryabkov told Russian media Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The Iranian regime is currently estimated to have the means to produce nuclear weapons in three weeks’ time with its current stockpiles of 60% enriched uranium, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated in February.
Russia has also expressed a desire to keep Iran from obtaining its own nuclear weapons, but has no qualms with its pursuit of a civilian program. Moscow has been a key ally of the Islamic Republic, with Tehran regularly supplying Russia with arms to prosecute its war in Ukraine.
The Trump administration has had internal fissures about how to handle Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with interventionist advisors clashing with more restraint-minded officials over whether or not pursuing a diplomatic solution is viable. U.S. Army General and U.S. Central Command leader Michael “Erik” Kurilla said Tuesday that the U.S. military is assessing a “wide range of options” to handle Iran, choices that include possible military force.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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