Tehran [Iran], November 11 (ANI): Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, has ruled out transferring the country's enriched nuclear material abroad, asserting that Tehran would retain its entire stockpile and use it for domestic purposes, according to the Iranian news agency ISNA.
In an interview with Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen network on Wednesday, Rezaei said Iran was not currently holding negotiations with the United States and was awaiting a clear response from Washington to its seven conditions for any further diplomatic engagement.
"Not a single particle, however insignificant, of the enriched material will leave Iran, and all of this material will remain in our own possession," he asserted.
"We will not remove even a single particle of enriched material from Iran," Rezaei said.
"We have also told our Russian friends that all enriched material will remain inside Iran and we will use it ourselves, because we have many applications for it," he added.
According to ISNA, Rezaei said Iran had presented seven conditions to the United States and was awaiting a clear response from Washington, while rejecting reports of ongoing negotiations between the two countries.
"The response we received from the Americans in this regard was a ‘deceptive’ response and had a lot of ambiguity and confusion," he said.
As per Al Jazeera, the demands include lifting post-MoU economic sanctions, ending the US naval blockade, unfreezing restricted assets, and drawing down the regional U.S. military footprint, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier stating that shipping will resume within 48 hours if these terms are met.
"We asked them to provide a clear and unambiguous response to our conditions, but they have not provided such a response to date; although they may provide this response in the future," Rezaei added.
He also dismissed reports of possible meetings between Iranian and American officials, asserting that no negotiations were currently taking place between the two countries.
"We are not currently holding any negotiations with the Americans, and there are no negotiations between the United States and us," he said.
"We have presented our seven conditions and are awaiting the US response, but their initial response was not sufficient in our opinion," Rezaei added.
Linking the negotiations to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, Rezaei said Iran would not reopen the strategic waterway until its conditions were fulfilled.
"We have announced our seven conditions, which are the rights of the Iranian nation. Until these conditions are implemented, the Strait of Hormuz will not open," he said.
On the nuclear issue, Rezaei said Iran intended to retain its enriched material for domestic applications, including the development of nuclear-powered vessels and small modular reactor (SMR) power plants.
"We are even designing nuclear-powered ships and nuclear submarines, and that is why we need our own enriched material," he said.
"Maybe at some point we will want to produce small SMR power plants, so we need these materials. So why should we move them abroad?" he added.
Rezaei also said that Iran's diplomatic approach towards the United States was based on deterrence and regional security, arguing that Tehran wanted an end to hostilities across West Asia, particularly in Lebanon.
"The first point of our diplomacy with the United States is to end the war on all fronts, especially in Lebanon," he said.
He further reiterated that Iran intended to continue pursuing diplomacy but expected Washington to provide a clear response to its seven conditions.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Turkiye on Wednesday to attend the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31).
On his arrival, the Iranian President described the US as a power that threatens Global peace and security.
"They waged war, claiming to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Then they used the PrSM missile in Lamerd for the first time. Now they invoke the "Mother of All Bombs" to pursue diplomacy through threats. No contradiction, but a disgrace. Who threatens global peace and security?" he said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, according to an Axios report, US President Donald Trump is said to have settled on a third option in the Iran conflict, choosing to intensify economic pressure on Tehran rather than resume military strikes or agree to a peace deal under terms deemed unacceptable by the US.
This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin had condemned the US and Israeli strikes against Iran and its nuclear facilities, Iran's security chief, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, said as Russia offered support to end the ongoing war in West Asia, as per IRNA.
Rezaei met Putin at the Kremlin Palace on November 5 and delivered a message from Ayatollah Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rezaei said that there will be no negotiations with the United States regarding the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, untill Iran's seven conditions are met.
Rezaei said, "Russian President Vladimir Putin had forcefully condemned the US and Israel's military aggression against Iran, including the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities."
With the status quo continuing in West Asia, the situation is still on the edge. While conflict is likely to give way to hectic diplomatic parley, its success remains a question. (ANI)
"Not a single particle" of enriched material: Iran Security Chief Rezaei rules out moving nuclear stockpile abroad
