Lavrov says Iran has an indisputable right to enrich uranium, defying Trump
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Iran has an “undeniable” right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes during a visit to China on Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel.
“The right to enrich uranium for public purposes is the indisputable right of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday following a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the Times of Israel.
Access to enriched uranium has been a tough line for US President Donald Trump in ongoing peace talks with Iran.
“There will be no enrichment of Uranium,” Trump wrote in an April 8 post on Truth Social, adding that the US will work with Iran to mine all remaining nuclear material in the country to ensure the Islamic Republic will not be able to obtain 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 US delegation during Saturday’s talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, doubled down on that red line.
“The enriched uranium that the Iranians have right now, we said we want that for our country, and we’d like to take it,” Vance told Fox News’ Brett Baier on Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese President Xi Jinping participated in a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China. April 15, 2026. (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“The president does not want to leave the next president or the president after that to worry about this plan, so we would like to remove those things completely from the country so that America can have power over it.
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Despite the hard line from the US, Russia’s top diplomat appeared to be openly defiant of the US demand, speaking out against what he sees as US global dominance.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China. April 15, 2026 (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
“Neither China nor Russia, nor the majority of countries in the world, would accept this approach,” Lavrov said in a statement posted on the Russian state website.
Peace talks in Iran have stalled, according to Vance, because of their refusal to completely abandon their nuclear program. Nuclear experts applauded the decision.
“The American team was wise to leave when it became clear that the Iranian people would not agree to Washington’s nuclear demands. Tehran maintains a rich uranium stockpile and uranium enrichment capabilities provide a path to nuclear weapons, plain and simple,” Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ nonproliferation program, told Fox News Digital.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the US State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Benjamin Weinthal of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
