Iran will maintain its enrichment right within NPT

The treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons has unambiguously recognized “the inalienable right of all parties to the NPT to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination”, which covers all areas of peaceful uses of the nuclear energy, including the immutable right to develop a full national fuel cycle, said the Iranian mission in a letter to the New York Times and the Washington Post.

The NYT editorial, published May 24, claimed that an NPT country “has no explicit right to enrich,” citing unnamed members of the P5+1 (the six major world powers) that negotiated with Iran in Iraq last month.

Referring to Iran’s demand during the talks for global powers to recognize its right to enrich uranium, the paper quoted a “senior American official” as saying that the group was “obviously not willing” to acknowledge the right.

Published on June 1, Iran’s rebuttal letter further argued that each NPT member has the “sovereign right to define its national energy policies in accordance with its national requirements.”

Iran is fully committed to its obligations under the treaty and is firmly determined to exercise its rights. In future talks, Iran will continue to insist on all its rights for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including a full national fuel cycle, the letter stated.

According to the New York Times editorial, the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia hoped that the P5+1 talks would at least lead to the suspension of Iran’s enrichment efforts in its nuclear energy program.

“The failure to do much more than agree to another set of talks,” said the editorial, “is likely to be criticized by Republicans and by pro-Israeli lobbying groups and legislators in the United States.”

The letter by Tehran’s representative office at the UN expressed hope that “a positive and constructive approach regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities” would finally emerge.

Iran and the P5+1 countries -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany -- wrapped up their latest meeting in Baghdad on May 24 after two days of negotiations.

The Iranian negotiating delegation was headed by the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, and the P5+1 delegations were led by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Both sides agreed to hold another round of talks in Moscow on June 18-19.

Tehran and the P5+1 have already held three rounds of talks, one in Geneva in December 2010, and two in Istanbul in January 2011 and in April 2012.
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