Iran rejects agreement on connections between centrifuges
By Sara Rajabova
Tehran has dismissed reports on any agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group on the connections linking the country's uranium enrichment centrifuges.
"In the course of technical and expert nuclear talks, different plans and initiatives have been put on the table and reviewed by participating delegations," said Marzieh Afkham, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman said, Press TV reported.
She, however, stressed that no plan has been agreed upon so far on the centrifugal connections.
The Associated Press recently reported that Iran and the P5+1 states - the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - are looking into a new proposal that "would leave much of Iranian enriching machines in place but disconnected from feeds of uranium" under a final nuclear deal.
The proposal is now one of the subjects being discussed in the new round of nuclear negotiations underway in New York since September 21.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed Tehran's nuclear energy program in New York on September 21 on the sidelines of the 69th session of UN General Assembly.
The two sides signed a historic interim deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November. The agreement came into force on January 20 and expired six months later. In July, they agreed to extend the negotiations until November 24.
The talks have been stalled for months over Iran's opposition to sharply reducing the size and output of centrifuges that can enrich uranium both to levels needed for reactor fuel or the core of nuclear warheads.
Iran says its enrichment program is only for peaceful purposes, but Washington fears it could be used to make a bomb. Tehran says any deal must put an end to the sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.