US օffers Iran nuclear fuel in exchange for halting uranium enrichment

The U.S. administration has expressed its readiness to supply Iran with nuclear fuel, provided that Tehran completely dismantles its domestic uranium enrichment program.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated this in an interview with Bloomberg.

“We can supply nuclear fuel to Iran from abroad. They could rejoin the community of nations and bring peace and prosperity to their people,” Wright noted.

According to him, the U.S. has nearly finalized its own uranium supply chain. Wright pointed out that the Department of Energy is wrapping up long-term agreements in uranium production and partnerships.

“We prefer to negotiate. Or they can continue their covert, hidden, hushed-up nuclear weapons program and confront the U.S. military, which guarantees they will not develop a nuclear weapon,” Wright added.

He also cautioned oil market participants against excessive optimism regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. According to him, a diplomatic breakthrough in relations with Iran should not be expected anytime soon. Currently, about 10 million barrels of oil and petroleum products pass through the strait daily, which—accounting for alternative pipelines—amounts to only two-thirds of pre-crisis volumes. The minister emphasized that the current state of the global energy market remains extremely unstable and challenging.

Meanwhile, Iranian Vice President for Nuclear Affairs and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, was denied entry to Austria to address the IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

According to a source, the UN requested a temporary sanctions waiver for Eslami to allow him to enter Austrian territory and speak at the event, but U.S. authorities insisted on keeping all restrictions in place.

A lower-level Iranian representative may speak at the conference later this week.