An Iranian official has warned that nuclear talks with the United States “will not actually get anywhere” if Washington insists Tehran abandons enrichment of uranium – a process that can also be used to make a bomb.
“Regarding zero enrichment, we said from the beginning that if this is their (American) position, it is natural that the work will not actually get anywhere,” Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi was cited as saying by Iran’s Nour News on Monday.
“Our position on enrichment is clear, and we have repeatedly stated that enrichment is a national achievement for us,” added Ravanchi. We will not back down on the issue of enrichment.”
Iran and the US capped their fourth round of talks in Oman earlier this month, aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading the American delegation to the talks, told ABC over the weekend that Washington “cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability” under an agreement. “We’ve delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them,” he said.
While enriched uranium can be used for peaceful purposes like energy production, it can be weaponized if refined to high levels.
“Enrichment enables weaponization, and we will not allow a bomb to get here. But short of that, there are all kinds of ways for us to achieve our goals in this negotiation,” Witkoff said, adding that the next round of talks may take place in Europe this week. “We hope that it will lead to some real positivity.”
Iran has repeatedly said that any suggestion that it abandons enrichment would be a non-starter, insisting that it reserves the right to enrich uranium under the UN’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Witkoff had previously suggested that Iran could be allowed some uranium enrichment.
On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that the issue “is not negotiable under any circumstances,” criticizing American negotiators for reversing their positions after each round of negotiations.
“This creates repeated uncertainty, making it more difficult for any negotiation process and raising more doubts about the seriousness of the other side in this process. This is a question that the American parties naturally have to answer,” he said, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
‘We are not afraid of threats’
The war of words between both nations spiraled after the Iranian president seemingly clashed with his US counterpart, saying his country favors negotiations with the White House to avoid fighting but rejecting threats by US President Donald Trump.
“We are not seeking war, we favor negotiation and dialogue, but we are not afraid of threats either, and we will in no way retreat from our legal rights,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at an event in the port city of Bandar Abbas Saturday.
He didn’t specify which comments he was referring to, but Trump told reporters on a Middle East tour last week that Iran has to “move quickly” in negotiations with the US or “something bad’s gonna happen.”
The Iranian leader insisted “no one but Trump himself believes his words against the Iranian nation.”
“On the one hand, he speaks of peace and stability and, on the other hand, he threatens (us) with the most sophisticated tools for homicide and with contradictory statements,” added Pezeshkian. “He simultaneously sends messages of peace, bloodshed and insecurity.”
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei referred to unspecified comments by Trump on Iran, calling them a “disgrace to the American nation” and “not worthy of a response at all.”
Over his Gulf tour, Trump repeatedly cautioned Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, threatening to strike the country if it fails to reach a nuclear deal with the US. But he has not explicitly ruled out Iran enriching uranium.
On Friday, Trump said the US had put forward a formal proposal for a nuclear deal, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the same day that Iran had not received any such written proposals from Washington, either directly or indirectly.
“There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes: a right afforded to all other (Non-Proliferation Treaty) signatories, too,” Araghchi said.
In an interview with Breitbart last week, Witkoff said Iran’s uranium enrichment program must be dismantled, though in an earlier interview with Fox News he had suggested that Iran could be allowed to enrich uranium to low levels.
The most recent round of talks between the US and Iran, in the Omani capital Muscat, was described by the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson as “difficult.”