Axios: Iranians have proposed monitoring uranium enrichment instead of halting it completely (Update)
On Monday, the American website Axios revealed details of the negotiations in Pakistan, indicating that the Iranian negotiating delegation proposed monitoring uranium enrichment instead of halting it completely.
According to Axios, a US official said that the United States proposed that Iran agree to a 20-year halt to uranium enrichment during negotiations held in Islamabad over the weekend.
The United States also demanded that Iran remove all its highly enriched uranium. According to the sources, the Iranians said they would instead agree to a “monitoring process to reduce the enrichment level.”
Sources say that disagreements over Iran’s nuclear program – in particular, whether Tehran would agree not to enrich uranium and to give up its current stockpile – were the main sticking point that prevented an agreement.
He indicated that Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators are now trying to bridge the remaining gaps and reach an agreement to end the war before the ceasefire expires on April 21.
Despite the lack of an agreement, the Iranians believed they were close to reaching a preliminary deal by Sunday morning, only to be surprised by the press conference held by US Vice President Vance. The Vice President gave no indication that an agreement was imminent, blamed the Iranians, and announced the departure of the US delegation from Islamabad.
An informed source said: “The Iranians were furious about that press conference,” as Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of the Iranian parliament and part of the Iranian negotiating team, said on Monday that “the two American demands regarding the nuclear issue were the reason for the failure to reach an agreement.”
Shafaq.com