Iran’s Deputy FM Denies Reports That Tehran Plans to Ship Uranium to Russia

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Tehran has no plans of sending its enriched uranium to Russia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Tehran has no plans of sending its enriched uranium to Russia, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, Reuters reported citing unnamed officials that Tehran had “indicated willingness” to cut the number of centrifuges it uses to less than 6,000 and to ship most of its enriched uranium stockpiles to Russia for storage.

Currently Tehran and P5+1 group of international negotiators comprising Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany are holding talks on Iranian nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The sides aspire to reach a comprehensive agreement that would ensure the peaceful nature of Iranian nuclear activities by the end of June, 2015. The accords are expected to stipulate cutting the number of centrifuges Tehran uses to enrich uranium.

Initially, Tehran insisted on having at least 10,000 centrifuges, but on February the United States proposed to cut this number to 6,500.