The head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Islami, said on Monday that his country is ready to reduce the level of highly enriched uranium enrichment if the United States lifts all sanctions imposed on it, after resuming talks with Washington. Internally, Iranian media reported that the authorities arrested a number of figures affiliated with the reformist movement, including the main coalition spokesman, Jawad Imam, after they expressed sympathy for the protests that broke out in late December.
Published on: 09/02/2026 - 17:30
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The head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Islami, confirmed on Monday that Tehran is ready to reduce the rate of uranium enrichment, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The agency said, “In response to a question about the possibility of reducing enriched uranium by 60 percent... the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said that the matter depends on the issue of whether all sanctions will be lifted in return,” without specifying whether this includes all sanctions imposed on Iran or only those imposed by the United States.
Dilution of uranium means mixing it with components that reduce the level of enrichment to prevent the final product from exceeding the specified enrichment threshold.
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Arrests of reformist figures amid the continuing crackdown
In Tehran, local media reported on Monday that the Revolutionary Guard arrested the spokesman for the main coalition of the reformist movement, Jawad Imam, on Sunday. In 2009, Imam led the campaign of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former prime minister and a prominent opposition figure, who has been under house arrest since February 2011 following the suppression of the protest movement that broke out after accusations of election fraud.
Fars News Agency reported on Sunday the arrest of three other reformist figures, including Azar Mansouri, who has been leading the Reform Front since 2023. She was an advisor to former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, and had expressed her support for the demonstrators.
At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Iran witnessed a widespread protest movement that began to demand improvement of the economic situation, before developing into calling for the fall of religious rule. In the same context, political activist Hussein Karroubi was arrested, according to what his lawyer, Muhammad Jalilian, told the Etemad newspaper. He is the son of Mehdi Karroubi, one of the leaders of the Green Movement, who in turn was subject to house arrest for many years.
The arrests also included former MP Ibrahim Asgharzadeh, and former Foreign Ministry official Mohsen Aminzadeh. The judiciary's Mizan news agency confirmed the arrests on Sunday without mentioning names, noting that they came after an investigation into the activities of some prominent political figures.
A number of activists who signed a statement criticizing the authorities were reportedly arrested. In a related context, an Iranian court issued a six-year prison sentence against Narges Mohammadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, who has been detained since December. The French Foreign Ministry condemned the ruling, considering that Tehran had once again resorted to repression and intimidation.
France 24/AFP
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