Iran ‘ready to return to pre-nuke deal era’: Official

By Ahmet Dursun

TEHRAN

An Iranian official on Tuesday said that his country had made all necessary preparations to resume production of highly-enriched uranium, according to local media reports.

The semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, as saying that Iran was ready to return to the “pre-nuclear deal era”.

“We are ready to return to the pre-nuclear deal era and produce highly-enriched uranium if necessary,” he said.

He added: “But I hope we never need it.”

On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a lengthy list of demands that the U.S. wants to include in a new nuclear deal with Iran.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).

Trump’s decision had faced stiff opposition from most other members of the P5+1.