Iran rejected a U.S.-proposed nuclear deal Wednesday, vowing to continue enriching uranium while negotiations appear to be stalling after five rounds of talks, according to Reuters.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected a U.S. offer in a Wednesday speech, shooting down a deal that would have required Iran to halt uranium enrichment on its soil and give up its current stockpiles of weapons-grade uranium, Reuters reported. On Monday, reports emerged indicating that the U.S. would allow Iran to enrich civilian-grade uranium, but President Donald Trump contradicted those reports later Monday when he posted to Truth Social that the Trump administration “WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM” in a prospective agreement.
“Uranium enrichment is the key to our nuclear program and the enemies have focused on the enrichment,” Khamenei said in the speech, according to Reuters.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100% against our interests … The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program,” Khameini added. “Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?”
Iran’s stockpile of 60% weapons-ready uranium has grown to 408.6 kg, according to a confidential IAEA report viewed by Reuters on Saturday. Moreover, Iran is believed to have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon in roughly three weeks with its current stockpiles of suitable enriched uranium, the IAEA stated in February.
“Senior Advisor and Special Envoy Witkoff sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it’s in their best interest to accept it,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The President also clearly said that he will not allow any uranium enrichment. Beyond that, it is not in our national interest to negotiate these issues publicly.”
Trump pursued a “maximum pressure” approach against Iran in his first term, instituting economic sanctions and playing hardball on Iranian nuclear aspirations. In his second term, his administration has worked to find a mutually agreeable deal with Iran, but Trump has also warned that he will take more aggressive measures if the Iranian regime does not quickly make progress toward an agreement.
Under former President Joe Biden, Iran was effectively allowed to enrich itself thanks in part to lax enforcement of sanctions against the Iranian energy sector. In his first term, Trump pulled out of the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal, saying the agreement was too lenient.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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