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Iran’s top leader has vowed that the country will never abandon its uranium enrichment program, rejecting a key US demand in ongoing nuclear negotiations.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’ve been following along, the US-Iran nuclear talks are pretty touch-and-go, swinging unpredictably between cautious optimism and open hostility from week to week. One moment, negotiators hint at progress behind closed doors; the next, top Iranian officials like Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly dismiss the talks as futile, criticizing the United States over “nonsense” demands to halt uranium enrichment entirely. Both sides claim to defend their red lines, which basically consist of Iran insisting it will never stop enrichment, while the US maintains that Iran must stop enrichment. Currently, Iran is enriching uranium at 60% purity, a level far beyond the civilian threshold and just a short technical leap from weapons-grade 90%, raising alarms in the US, Israel, and among European allies. EU officials have grown increasingly skeptical, privately saying that Iran is dragging out negotiations to advance its program and shorten its nuclear “breakout time.”
What’s going on now: In a notable development, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected a recent US nuclear deal proposal, drawing a clear line in the sand over Tehran’s right to enrich uranium. Speaking during a televised address, Khamenei called the US proposal “100 percent against the interests of the Iranian nation” and denounced it as an attempt to obstruct Iran’s technological self-reliance. “The recent nuclear plan that the Americans have prepared is 100 percent against ‘We Can Do It,'” he said, invoking a nationalist slogan associated with Iran’s post-revolutionary independence. He added, “Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America.”
He further challenged the United States’ role in dictating Iran’s nuclear policy, saying, “Why are you interfering in whether Iran should have enrichment or not? You cannot have a say.”
Khamenei’s remarks come in direct response to a proposal delivered by US envoy Steve Witkoff after five rounds of negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The proposal reportedly allows Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels — specifically up to 3%, suitable for civilian nuclear reactors — but imposes strict conditions. These include halting all enrichment above that level, freezing the development of advanced centrifuges, and shutting down underground enrichment facilities for an unspecified period. In exchange, the US would ease certain economic sanctions once Iran demonstrates compliance under monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
It also follows President Trump once again reiterating that the US would not allow Iran to enrich any uranium. In a post on Truth Social, he said, “The AUTOPEN should have stopped Iran a long time ago from ‘enriching.’ Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!”
