TEHRAN: Iran is prepared to dilute its highly enriched uranium if the United States lifts all sanctions on the country, the head of its atomic energy agency said on Monday.

“In conclusion, in response to a question about the possibility of diluting 60 per cent enriched uranium... the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation said that this depends on whether all sanctions would be lifted in return,” the official IRNA news agency reported, referring to agency chief Mohammad Eslami, without specifying whether this included all sanctions on Iran or only those imposed by the United States.

Diluting uranium means mixing it with blend material to reduce the enrichment level, so that the final product does not exceed a given enrichment threshold.

Before US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities in June last year, Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 per cent.

Iranian security council adviser due in Oman today

Western countries, led by the United States, suspect Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a claim denied by Iran.

According to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Iran is enriching uranium to 60 per cent.

It is not known where more than 400 kg of highly enriched uranium that Iran possessed prior to the war has ended up, with UN inspectors last recording its location on June 10.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Iran to be subject to a total ban on enrichment, a condition Tehran has refused to accept.

Iran says it has the right to a civilian nuclear programme under the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it and 190 other countries are signatories.

In a related development, Adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader will visit Oman on Tuesday.

Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and secretary of its national security council, will visit Oman on Tuesday following indirect US-Iranian talks there, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

US and Iranian diplomats engaged through Omani mediation in the Gulf Arab state last week in an effort to revive diplomacy amid a US naval buildup near Iran and Tehran’s vows of a harsh response if attacked.

“During this trip, (Larijani) will meet with high-ranking officials of the Sultanate of Oman and discuss the latest regional and international developments and bilateral cooperation at various levels,” Tasnim said.

The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.

Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme, with the process breaking down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026