Iran’s low enrichment right established, no need to 20% uranium

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi praised Tehran's success in the talks with the world powers, saying Tehran has stopped its 20-percent uranium enrichment because it had enough stockpile to satiate its needs, while it could also establish its right of low enrichment in the talks with the world powers. “We have established the 3.5-percent enrichment right and this is a success for us,” Araqchi said, addressing a meeting of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran on Tuesday. He further noted the part of agreement which is seen as an important concession by Iran, and stressed, “We have stopped the 20% enrichment because we didn’t need it (any more).” On November 24, Iran and the world powers sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and continue talks with the country to settle all problems between the two sides. Then after several rounds of experts talks on how to enforce the agreement, Iran and the six major world powers finalized an agreement on ways to implement the deal. Based on the deal, Iran halted its 20-percent enrichment activity in January. Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi underlined that Iran's enrichment right has been clearly stipulated in the Geneva accord sealed by Tehran and the six major world powers late in November, adding that the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) had already granted the right to the country, however.