Saudi Arabia says Iran’s plans a threat to region’s stability
▶ Riyadh says Tehran must be stopped from building nuclear arms
Saudi Arabia said it is following with concern recent developments in Iran’s nuclear programme.
The statement came after Iran said it would, for the first time, enrich uranium to 60 per cent – from current levels of 20 per cent – in response to what it called Israel’s “nuclear terrorism”.
“The kingdom calls on Iran to avert escalation and not to expose the region’s security and stability to further tensions,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
Iran’s decision to expand its programme was made after its Natanz nuclear site was sabotaged on Sunday, an attack Tehran blamed on Israel.
It said 1,000 new centrifuges would be added at the complex and the purified material produced would be used for medical purposes. Riyadh stressed the importance of the international negotiations in Vienna focused on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“We call on Iran to engage seriously in the current negotiations in line with the aspirations of the international community towards Iran’s harnessing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the ministry said.
The US, along with Britain, France and Germany, issued similar statements expressing concern over the escalation and urged diplomacy.
The three European nations called the move by Iran a “dangerous escalation” that could hinder diplomatic efforts over the next week.
Saudi Arabia called on the international community to reach an agreement “with stronger parameters of a longer duration”.
“We reiterate the importance of the international community in reaching an agreement that strengthens the monitoring and control measures of the programme,” it said.
Any agreement should, the ministry said, prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or developing the necessary capabilities for it.
Since former president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has abandoned all limits on its uranium stockpile.
Enriching uranium up to 20 per cent is a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. Iran says its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes. Riyadh said the actions taken by Tehran on Wednesday “cannot be part of a peaceful programme”.
Iran’s chief negotiator in Vienna, deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, said his country had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency in a letter of the plans to increase uranium enrichment.
Inspectors from the nuclear watchdog headed yesterday to the Natanz site to inspect damage there.
They said they would continue to assess the site and monitor Iran’s conduct, but the inspectors did not reveal the extent of the damage.
Israel did not comment on Iran’s latest accusations, but it has frequently said it is convinced that Tehran uses its nuclear programme as a cover for military purposes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, standing alongside visiting US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday, criticised Iran’s move.
“In the Middle East, there is no threat that is more serious, more dangerous, more pressing than that posed by the fanatical regime in Iran,” he said.
Iran has accused Israel of carrying out a series of covert attacks to undermine its nuclear programme, as well as assassinations of its senior nuclear scientists.
The kingdom calls on Iran to avert escalation and not to expose the region’s security and stability to further tensions
SAUDI ARABIA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY