As the diplomatic push to renew ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran continues, Washington and Tehran have also been negotiating a deal on Iran’s uranium enrichment. Iran’s current stockpile of enriched uranium — and its ability to enrich further — have been central elements of the long-standing demand by the administration of US President Donald Trump that Tehran not only commit to not building a nuclear weapon, but also give up the ability to do so. Now, according to multiple US media reports, specific differences regarding Iran’s nuclear enrichment have emerged as a critical stumbling block in negotiations between the two countries aimed at ending their war.
High-powered teams from the US and Iran met in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the weekend, but failed to agree to a deal. Pakistan is attempting to get both sides to come to a second round of talks. The breakdown in talks in Pakistan over the weekend occurred over a US insistence that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment programme for 20 years in exchange for sanctions relief, followed by Tehran’s refusal to agree to a moratorium on enrichment beyond five years.
So why are Iran and the US arguing over the duration of uranium enrichment? Will it impact ceasefire talks? Uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive material found in rocks, soil, and water, which, when enriched, is used as a source of fuel for nuclear reactors.
It comes in the form of three natural isotopes (chemical elements that contain equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei): uranium-234 (U-234), uranium-235 (U-235) and uranium-238 (U-238). U-235 is highly radioactive; the other isotopes are not. According to the United Nations’ atomic energy watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), uranium enrichment is “the process through which the isotopic proportion of U-235 is increased from 0.72 percent to up to 94 percent”.
The IAEA says uranium is considered low-enriched if its isotopic proportion of U-235 remains below 20 percent. This is generally used in civilian, commercial reactors to generate power for homes and industries. It is considered highly enriched if its isotopic proportion is beyond 20 percent.
Enrichment needs to cross 90 percent for it to be considered weapons-grade. Uranium also needs to be in the form of a gas to carry out the enrichment process, and most countries, including Iran, use the process of spinning uranium hexafluoride in order to enrich it. This involves feeding the gas into fast-spinning centrifuges.
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