Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Monday the West has to give a “correct assessment” of his country’s atomic capabilities in important talks due to be held in Baghdad next week.
Jalili, speaking to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said such a stance was needed for the talks to be successful, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency. “The outcome of the Baghdad meeting relies on a correct assessment by the West of Iran’s national, regional and international capability,” Jalili said. The countries involved in the talks should realise that the Islamic state has a “consistent determination to consolidate and upgrade its capabilities,” he was quoted as saying. Although the IRNA report did not elaborate, Jalili’s comments could imply a demand that the Western powers involved in the talks acknowledge that Iran had a right to continue key aspects of its disputed nuclear programme. Activities Iran has developed in recent months and years include enriching uranium to 3.5 percent and to 20 percent. The former is needed for atomic energy, while the latter can be used to make medical isotopes — or, if enriched further to a military-grade 90 percent, to make nuclear weapons.