US Energy Secretary Chris Wright made a forceful statement at the annual General Conference of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, declaring that Iran's uranium-enrichment program must be "completely dismantled."
His remarks, quoted by Reuters, follow a joint US-Israeli operation in June that saw the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. The attacks, which inflicted serious damage on Iran's enrichment plants, were carried out on the grounds that Tehran was nearing the ability to produce a nuclear weapon.
While the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found no credible evidence of a coordinated Iranian nuclear weapons program, the agency has expressed concern over Iran's estimated stockpile of 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity. According to IAEA metrics, this amount is sufficient to be further enriched into enough weapons-grade material for 10 nuclear bombs.
"If it wasn't already clear enough, I will restate the United States' position on Iran," Wright told the meeting of IAEA member states on Monday. "Iran's nuclear weapons pathway, including all (uranium) enrichment and (plutonium) reprocessing capabilities, must be completely dismantled."
Iran and the US held indirect nuclear talks, mediated by Oman, before those talks collapsed in wake of the June strikes. Iran has since demanded guarantees against military action before returning to negotiations. Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani said recently that Tehran was open to talks but would not accept restrictions on its missile program.
Meanwhile, in a move to pressure Tehran, Britain, France, and Germany (the E3) have initiated a one-month process to reimpose sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US withdrew from in 2018.
The E3 have indicated they may halt this process if Iran allows full IAEA inspections to resume, provides an accounting of its enriched uranium, and enters into direct nuclear talks with the United States.
Wright expressed cautious optimism about future talks on Monday, saying, "We hope dialogues restart and we hope they're successful. I think there's a reasonable chance they will be."
When asked what the US was offering Iran, he outlined potential incentives, including the removal of sanctions. "Rejoining the community of trading nations, removal of sanctions. It would be a home run for the Iranian people, and we've talked about other things as well, so there's plenty of carrots for Iran to abandon their nuclear weapons program."