Saudi Arabia Concerned Over Iran's Uranium Enrichment, FM Says

Exploratory talks with Iran have been cordial but not substantive, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has told France-24 in an interview published on Saturday.

“We are committed to a substantive discussion with Iran on addressing concerns that we and other countries in the region have…but that would require to address all the concerns that we all have,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said.

He added that although no substantive progress has been achieved in four rounds of talks but, “we have made enough progress that would allow us to move forwards.”

Asked about Saudi concerns over the progress of multilateral talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, bin Farhan said that his country has “significant doubts” about where the talks are going. He went on to say that these doubts have been reinforced in recent months by Iran’s nuclear activities. He also said Riyadh is concerned about restrictions on IAEA nuclear monitoring in Iran.

Tehran has accelerated uranium enrichment and has said it now has a stockpile of more than 200 kilograms of 20-percent enriched fissile material and another 25 kg of 60-percent purified uranium. This takes Iran closer to the threshold of having enough 90-percent enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.