JAKARTA - Iran should be 'far away' from uranium enrichment and long-range missile development, should allow US inspectors to inspect its facilities, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, when the nuclear negotiations were postponed.
Foreign Minister Rubio's comments underscore the remaining major divisions in negotiations between the two countries to resolve long-standing disputes over Iran's nuclear program, with President Donald Trump threatening to bomb Iran if there is no agreement.
"They have to stay away from sponsoring terrorists, they have to stay away from helping the Houthis (in Yemen), they have to stay away from building long-range missiles that have no other purpose but to own nuclear weapons, and they have to stay away from enrichment," Foreign Minister Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.
Foreign Minister Rubio said Iran should import enriched uranium for its nuclear power program, rather than enrich uranium to any level.
"If you have the ability to enrich at 3.67 percent, it only takes a few weeks to reach 20 percent, then 60 percent, then 80 and 90 percent of what you need for weapons," said Foreign Minister Rubio.
Iran itself says it has the right to enrich uranium based on the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. They deny the desire to make a nuclear bomb.
Foreign Minister Rubio also said Iran should accept that the United States could engage in any inspection regime and that inspectors would require access to all facilities, including military facilities.
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Iran has repeatedly said it will not stop its missile program or uranium enrichment, a process used to make fuel for nuclear power plants, but can also produce materials for atomic warheads.
On Thursday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters the fourth round of talks scheduled to take place in Rome on Saturday had been postponed, while a new date would be set "depending on the US approach".
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