Iran has the technical capability to produce an atomic bomb but has no intention of doing so, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami, said on Monday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
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Eslami reiterated comments made by Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in July, whose remarks amounted to a rare suggestion that the Islamic Republic might have an interest in nuclear weapons, which it has long denied seeking.
"As Mr. Kharrazi mentioned, Iran has the technical ability to build an atomic bomb, but such a program is not on the agenda," Eslami said.
Iran is already enriching uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, far above a cap of 3.67% set under Tehran's now-tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Uranium enriched to 90% is suitable for a nuclear bomb.
A top Iranian nuclear negotiator said on Sunday that Tehran has responded to top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell's proposal aimed at salvaging the accord, and seeks a swift conclusion to negotiations.
Borrell said he had proposed a new draft text to revive the pact.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, "After exchanging messages last week and reviewing the proposed texts, there is a possibility that in the near future we will be able to reach a conclusion about the timing of a new round of nuclear negotiations."
The broad outline of a revived deal was essentially agreed upon in March after 11 months of indirect talks in Vienna between Washington and Tehran. But talks then broke down over obstacles including Iran's demand that the US should guarantee no future president will withdraw from the deal, as then-President Donald Trump had done in 2018.
President Joe Biden cannot make such a promise as the nuclear deal is a non-binding political understanding, not a legally binding treaty.
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