TEHRAN – Iran has repeated its long-standing position that uranium enrichment cannot and will not stop within the country, with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei taking to the public stage this time to ask Americans to stop talking “nonsense”, after multiple warnings by lower-ranking officials seemingly failed to resonate during ongoing nuclear talks with the United States. 

Tehran and Washington have participated in four rounds of indirect talks since early April. The discussions aim to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the termination of sanctions, mirroring a deal the two sides signed alongside five other countries in 2015, and saw Donald Trump withdraw from in 2018. 

In his first term, Trump aimed to add restrictions to Iran's military and foreign policy in addition to its nuclear program, demands he now appears to have dropped. However, he is still fixated on Iran's uranium enrichment, an issue Tehran clarified is a nonstarter since the new negotiations began. During an interview last week, Washington’s lead negotiator and special presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the U.S. “cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability” to exist in Iran. 

“To say that ‘we will not allow Iran to enrich uranium’ is a huge mistake,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated in Tehran on Tuesday, after warning Americans to stop saying “nonsense”. “No one is waiting for permission from anyone. The Islamic Republic has its own policies, its own methods, and it pursues its own agenda,” he added. 

The Tehran Times understands that Witkoff’s recent statements in the media, coupled with similar pronouncements from other American officials, have fueled skepticism among Iranians regarding the U.S.'s genuine intentions. Ayatollah Khamenei publicly spoke of that skepticism during his Tuesday address. “During Martyr Raeisi's term, there were indirect negotiations, but they yielded no results,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted, adding, “Now, we don’t think they’ll lead to a result either, and we don't know what will happen."

The Leader said he will expound on why Washington is so vigorously demanding an end to Iran’s uranium enrichment on another occasion. 

Shortly after the American official made the remarks in an ABC interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi took to X to make it clear that Iran will continue uranium enrichment “with or without” an agreement with the United States. “If the U.S. is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome. Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal.”

A fifth round of talks remains unscheduled. Araghchi has said that a date and location have been offered, but Tehran has yet to deliver a confirmation. It is unclear whether Iran has shelved the decision due to Witkoff’s latest remarks.

By Mona Hojat Ansari