Karimi Qodousi: Proposal for 'Transfer of Uranium to Russia' Presented to Zarif in Muscat

Javad Karimi Qodousi, a principlist representative and member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, stated that the Americans presented their proposal for transferring Iran's uranium reserves to Russia to the Iranian Foreign Minister during negotiations in Muscat. In an interview with the 'Rajanews' website published on Sunday, January 14, he discussed recent reports regarding an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to transfer part of Iran's uranium reserves to a third country. He mentioned that during negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Muscat in November of this year, this issue was proposed and was one of 'the worst plans from the beginning until now' presented to the Iranian Foreign Minister. Javad Karimi Qodousi stated: 'In one of the clauses of this plan, which is known as the Netanyahu plan, it is stated that enriched materials below 5% should be transferred to a third country, and they themselves suggested that this country be Russia, and later there should never be more than 130 kilograms of enriched uranium in the Islamic Republic.' The Associated Press previously reported that diplomats indicated that Iran and the U.S. had temporarily reached an agreement for Iran to transfer a significant portion of enriched uranium, which could potentially be used in 'nuclear weapons manufacturing,' to Russia. Meanwhile, Marzieh Afkham, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, denied any agreement on the issues discussed in the Islamic Republic's nuclear file. Nevertheless, Karimi Qodousi mentioned that Mohammad Javad Zarif would attend the parliament on Tuesday to answer questions regarding this matter. In response to a question about the possibility of Iran agreeing to such an action, he stated: 'If this agreement were to happen one in a thousand times, before the negotiating team even reaches Azadi Square, the people would set this agreement on fire. Because these are the definite red lines of the Islamic Republic. These red lines have been prepared by their own experts, and no one has the right to cross them. Everyone is obligated to inform the public if it is felt that there is going to be a crossing of these red lines, both the state media and the representatives of the people have taken on this responsibility.' One of the major issues of contention between Iran and the 1+5 group in the nuclear negotiations is the enrichment capacity and the enriched uranium in Iran, which the West claims could be used in the construction of nuclear weapons; a claim that Tehran has consistently rejected. The next round of nuclear negotiations between Iran, the U.S., France, the UK, China, Russia, and Germany is scheduled for January 15 (January 25) at the level of deputy foreign ministers. In addition to the issue of enriched uranium, the number of centrifuges in Iran is also a point of contention between the parties. The Associated Press quotes diplomats stating that the U.S. is seeking to reduce their number by at least half, to 4,500 units, while Iran is only willing to accept a 20% reduction, bringing them down to 8,000 machines.