Iran may pause enrichment for US nod on nuclear rights, release of frozen funds: sources

Iran may pause uranium enrichment if the US releases frozen Iranian funds and recognises Tehran's right to refine uranium for civilian use under a “political deal” that could lead to a broader nuclear accord, two Iranian official sources said.

The sources, close to the negotiating team, said on Wednesday a “political understanding with the US could be reached soon” if Washington accepted Tehran's conditions. One of the sources said the matter “has not been discussed yet” during the talks with the US.

The sources told Reuters that under this arrangement, Tehran would halt uranium enrichment for a year, ship part of its highly enriched stock abroad or convert it into fuel plates for civilian nuclear purposes.

A temporary pause to enrichment would be a way to overcome an impasse over clashing red lines after five rounds of talks between Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme.

US officials have repeatedly said any new nuclear deal with Iran — to replace a failed 2015 accord between Tehran and six world powers — must include a commitment to scrap enrichment, viewed as a potential pathway to developing nuclear bombs.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly denied such intentions, saying it wants nuclear energy only for civilian purposes, and has publicly rejected Washington's demand to scrap enrichment as an attack on its national sovereignty.

In Washington, a US official said the proposal aired by the Iranian sources had not been brought to the negotiating table to date. The US state department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this article.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei denied Reuters' report and said “enrichment in Iran is a non-negotiable principle”.

The Iranian sources said Tehran would not agree to dismantling of its nuclear programme or infrastructure, or sealing of its nuclear installations, as demanded by US President Donald Trump's administration.

Instead, they said, Trump must publicly recognise Iran's sovereign right to enrichment as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and authorise a release of Iranian oil revenues frozen by sanctions, including $6bn (R107.52bn) in Qatar.

Iran has not yet been able to access the $6bn parked in a Qatar bank that was unfrozen under a US-Iranian prisoner swap in 2023, during US President Joe Biden's administration.

“Tehran wants its funds to be transferred to Iran with no conditions or limitations. If that means lifting some sanctions, then it should be done too,” the second source said.

The sources said the political agreement would give the nuclear diplomacy a greater chance to yield results by providing more time to hammer out a consensus on hard-to-bridge issues.

“The idea is not to reach an interim deal, it would [rather] be a political agreement to show both sides are seeking to defuse tensions,” said the second Iranian source.

Western diplomats are sceptical of chances for US-Iranian reconciliation on enrichment. They warn that a temporary political agreement would face resistance from European powers unless Iran displayed a serious commitment to scaling back its nuclear activity with verification by the UN nuclear watchdog.

Even if gaps over enrichment narrow, lifting sanctions quickly would remain difficult. The US favours phasing out nuclear-related sanctions while Iran demands immediate removal of all US-imposed curbs.

Asked whether critical US sanctions could be rescinded during an enrichment pause, the first source said: “There have been discussions over how to lift the sanctions during the five rounds of talks.”

Dozens of Iranian institutions vital to Iran's economy, including its central bank and national oil company, have been sanctioned since 2018 for, according to Washington, “supporting terrorism or weapons proliferation”.

Iran's clerical establishment is grappling with mounting crises — energy and water shortages, a plunge in the value of its currency, losses among regional militia proxies in wars with Israel, and fears of an Israeli strike on nuclear sites — all worsened by Trump's hardline stance.

Trump's revival of a “maximum pressure” campaign has included tightened sanctions and threats to bomb Iran if negotiations yield no deal.

Iranian officials told Reuters last week Tehran's leadership “has no better option” than a new deal to avert economic chaos that could jeopardise clerical rule.

Nationwide protests over social repression and economic hardship in recent years met with harsh crackdowns but exposed the Islamic Republic's vulnerability to public discontent and drew more Western sanctions over human rights violations.

Reuters