Iran’s Abbas Araghchi says remarks on enriched uranium misinterpreted after Feb 26 Geneva talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his remarks about Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium during talks in Geneva on February 26 were misinterpreted, denying that he suggested the country intended to build nuclear weapons.In an interview discussing what transpired during the meeting, Araghchi said he had informed interlocutors that Iran possessed 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, adding that the figure was not secret and had previously been cited in reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“I never said we are going to make bombs,” Araghchi said, referring to comments he said were conveyed during the discussions.
According to Araghchi, he had explained that if the existing material were enriched further, it could theoretically be sufficient for around 10 nuclear bombs, but said the remark was intended to underline the scale of Iran’s nuclear material rather than signal any plan to weaponise it.Also Read: Russia is supplying Iran with Shahed drones, Zelenskiy says

He added that Iran had indicated it was prepared to give up the material or dilute it to lower enrichment levels, describing this as a potential concession in negotiations.

Araghchi said he did not know how the comments were interpreted by others involved in the discussions, including what Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff might have conveyed to their leadership.

“I don’t know how they interpreted that,” he said, adding that the reaction may have stemmed from a lack of knowledge or from attempts to justify subsequent acts of aggression. Araghchi said he hoped the full account of what took place during the February 26 meeting in Geneva would become clearer over time.

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