Iran lays mines, blasts tunnels to protect near weapons-grade uranium: Report

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that an expected memorandum with the United States on an end to hostilities would not be signed on Sunday, state media reported, AFP reported.

“We have to wait and see the exact time of the signing; even if it won’t be tomorrow,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, according to the IRNA news agency.

“The possibility of this happening in the coming days cannot be ruled out,” he added after mediator Pakistan said Iran and the United States could finalize a deal within 24 hours.

Iran’s nuclear program in the spotlight

CNN reported, citing five sources familiar with US intelligence, that Iran has significantly stepped up measures in recent weeks to secure its stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium.

The country reportedly sealed off access to the material by deliberately collapsing tunnels and placing explosive mines at entry points, making access to the stash much more difficult, according to CNN.

Read also | Trump says US will secure Iran’s enriched uranium with or without a deal

Trump has repeatedly stressed that securing Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium remains a key US goal in ongoing talks aimed at ending the conflict and resuming navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.

Scott Roecker, who led the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Material Disposal from 2017 to 2021, said the reports, if accurate, would greatly complicate efforts to recover highly enriched uranium (HEU), CNN reported.

If negotiators “demand that Iran take the entire stockpile to a central site for verification and ultimately remove or commingle the material,” that would shift the burden to Tehran to gain access and “provide a full inventory” of the enriched uranium, Roecker said.

According to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on Friday, negotiations are gradually moving toward an agreement under which Iran will hand over its enriched uranium to the United States. The material should be neutralized on site before removal from the country.

Iran’s nuclear program has long been a major source of tension. The United States and Israel argue the program could eventually be used to develop nuclear weapons, a concern their leaders have cited as a key justification for military action, the AP reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran believes the only way to deal with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium is through domestic dilution, AFP reported.

Read also | There will be no signing of the memorandum in Islamabad on Sunday: Iran

“Our position has always been that the only way to deal with the stockpile of enriched material is to dilute it in Iran,” Araghchi said in an interview with state television.

However, Iran maintains that its nuclear activities are solely for peaceful purposes, such as energy production and scientific research.

Read also | US-Iran news LIVE: Tehran says no MoU signing on Sunday

A senior U.S. administration official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said Friday that the emerging deal would begin the process of destroying or removing Tehran’s highly enriched uranium, the AP reported.

According to an AP report, the official said that 60 days after the two sides sign the agreement will be used to work out the technical details for removing Iran’s enriched uranium. The official did not provide details on who the U.S. envisions will take over the mining of uranium believed to be buried beneath three nuclear sites destroyed by U.S. strikes last year, the AP reported.

(With input from agencies)