Iran’s Khamenei rejects US zero uranium enrichment demand as ‘100% against’ its interests

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday came out swinging at the U.S.’ most recent proposal, which apparently included a call for zero uranium enrichment, to which the Iranian leader said was “100 %” against Tehran’s interests.

The issue of whether the U.S. would push a complete ban on uranium enrichment – a process that is needed to produce nuclear energy as well a warhead – came into question this week after reporting suggested a U.S. proposal submitted to Iran through Omani mediators on Saturday allowed for “low levels” of enrichment.

President Donald Trump appeared to refute this in a social media post this week, and on Wednesday, Khamanei, who did not comment directly on the specifics of the proposal, said that “In the current nuclear talks that are being mediated by Oman, the U.S.’s proposal is 100% against the spirit of ‘We can’.” 

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President Trump on Wednesday said he spoke with Russian President Putin on Iran’s nuclear program and both were in agreement that Tehran “cannont have a nuclear weapon.”

“President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion,” Trump said in a readout detailing their discussion. “It is my opinion that Iran has been slowwalking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!”

The U.S. has not said how much time it will allow negotiations with Iran to continue for

Khamanei did not say that Iran was unwilling to continue negotiating with the U.S., though Tehran has repeatedly insisted that a zero-enrichment policy is a non-starter. 

“A nuclear industry without enrichment capabilities is useless, because we would then be dependent on others to obtain fuel for our power plants,” he said.

Included in the proposal was apparently a call for a regional coalition for enrichment that could provide Iran with the uranium it needs for civilian projects, like energy. 

“What the U.S. is demanding is that you should have no nuclear industry at all and be dependent on them,” Khamanei pointed out.

Iranian authorities said this week that this idea was not a new concept, and while Tehran is not opposed to being part of such a coalition, it would not serve as an adequate substitute even though Iran relies on nuclear energy for less than 1% of its energy consumption. 

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The Iranian leader said on Wednesday that Iran’s nuclear development has become a source of national pride and claimed, “The number of countries in the world that have achieved a complete nuclear fuel cycle is perhaps fewer than the number of fingers on a person’s two hands. 

“We’re capable of producing nuclear fuel starting from the mine and all the way to the power plant,” he added. 

Iran has also repeatedly claimed it does not intend to develop a nuclear weapon, though its near-weapons-grade enrichment levels and missile program have suggested otherwise and prompted immense concern among international security officials, including the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Khamanei’s comments regarding Iran’s possession of a nuclear weapon were among the most fervent he has issued and again called into question Tehran’s claims that it is not looking to make itself the 10th nuclear nation. 

“You Americans possess atomic bombs and have the massive destruction of the world at your disposal,” he said in a series of posts on X. “What business is it of yours whether the Iranian nation should or shouldn’t have uranium enrichment or whether it should or shouldn’t have a nuclear industry?

“Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business,” Khamanei said.