The United States government may agree to allow limited uranium enrichment by Iran for the country’s nascent nuclear program, as long as Tehran undertakes measures to scale back its ambitions of building an atomic bomb.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, listens to a technician during his visit of the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility some 200 miles south of Tehran on April 8, 2008. Photo: Iranian's President's Office / Associated Press

According to a report on the Los Angeles Times, officials of the U.S. government said they may permit Iran to enrich uranium up to the 5 percent concentration, provided the Iranians submit to unrestricted inspections of their nuclear sites and agree to tough oversight and safeguarding rules. In the event the U.S. follows through with its new concession, allies in western Europe and especially Israel would likely be outraged. Iran and six other world powers, including the U.S., will resume nuclear negotiations in Baghdad, Iraq on May 23.