Iran Does Not Have a Right to Enrich Uranium |
Amid ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran, U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly demanding that Iran abandon its commitment to uranium enrichment, possibly for at least 12 years.
Critics, however, like former U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, have argued that Washington’s insistence on non-enrichment will ultimately undermine diplomacy. He said last month, “I do not think there can be a deal if the United States holds to the line that Iran has to completely surrender in perpetuity its right and capacity to enrich uranium.”
Amid ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran, U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly demanding that Iran abandon its commitment to uranium enrichment, possibly for at least 12 years.
Critics, however, like former U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, have argued that Washington’s insistence on non-enrichment will ultimately undermine diplomacy. He said last month, “I do not think there can be a deal if the United States holds to the line that Iran has to completely surrender in perpetuity its right and capacity to enrich uranium.”
But Iran does not have a right to enrich uranium. In fact, Trump is right to expect Tehran to abandon its enrichment program forever.
To understand why, consider the science. Uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing (sometimes referred to as ENR) are dual-use technologies. The process used to make fuel for a nuclear reactor can also be used to make fuel for a nuclear bomb. Once a country can enrich uranium (or reprocess plutonium), therefore, it also has the key capacity to become a nuclear-armed state.
Scientists and policymakers have understood this problem since the dawn of the nuclear age and devised a simple solution: fuel-cycle services. Countries do not need to make their own nuclear fuel. If they want a truly peaceful nuclear program (for energy, research, or medical purposes), then they can have fuel provided to them by more advanced nuclear powers, like France, Russia, or the United States. The recipient runs the fuel in their reactors and sends back the spent fuel in return for the next shipment.
There are dozens of countries in the world today, such as........