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Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Iran has an “inalienable” right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes during a state visit to China on Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel.
“The right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes is an inalienable right of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Lavrov said during a Tuesday press conference following a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the Times of Israel.
Access to said uranium has been a hard line for U.S. President Donald Trump in ongoing peace negotiations with Iran.
“There will be no enrichment of Uranium,” Trump wrote in an April 8 post on Truth Social, adding that the U.S. would be working with Iran to dig up all remaining nuclear materials in the country to ensure the Islamic Republic would not have access to any uranium.
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Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at a press conference in Beijing, China. April 15, 2026. (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation during Saturday negotiations with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, doubled down on that red line.
“The enriched uranium that the Iranians currently possess, we have said that we want that to come our of their country, and we would like to take possession of it,” Vance told ‘ Brett Baier on Monday.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese President Xi Jinping participate in a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China. April 15, 2026. (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“The president doesn’t want to leave the next president or the president after that to be worrying about this program so we would like to get that material out of the country completely so that the United States has control over it.
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Despite the U.S. hard line, Russia’s top diplomat appeared to openly defy the U.S. demand, speaking in strong terms against what he viewed as American global control.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov shakes hands with Chinese president Xi Jinping during a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China. April 15, 2026 (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“Neither China nor Russia, nor the majority of countries throughout the world, can accept this approach,” Lavrov said in remarks posted to a Russian state website.
The peace talks in Iran stalled, according to Vance, because of their refusal to completely give up their nuclear program. Nuclear experts praised the decision.
“The U.S. team was wise to walk away once it became clear the Iranians would not agree to Washington’s core nuclear demands. Tehran maintaining enriched uranium stocks and uranium enrichment capabilities provides it with a pathway to nuclear weapons, plain and simple,” Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ nonproliferation program, told Digital.
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Digital contacted the U.S. State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment but did not hear back immediately.
Digital’s Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
