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Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has hit back at a US proposal on Tehran’s nuclear programme, describing the Trump administration as “rude” and “thoughtless”.
In his first comments since the US submitted over the weekend what it described as a “detailed and acceptable” proposal for a deal on the issue, Iran’s ultimate decision maker reiterated that the Islamic republic would not stop enriching uranium.
“The impolite and rude leaders of the US say this [that Iran should not have a nuclear industry],” Khamenei said in a speech on Wednesday.
“Our response to the loud and reckless nonsense of a thoughtless US administration is clear,” he said, in comments also aimed at Israel’s more aggressive line on Iran’s nuclear programme. “The current US and Zionist leaders should know they cannot do a damn thing about this.”
Enrichment, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material, is at the heart of the US-Iran talks. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that Tehran must dismantle its programme altogether.
Recent reports have said Washington has proposed allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels under an interim deal, before later halting it. A European official confirmed that the Trump administration had been briefing that it would allow Iran to conduct low-level enrichment under an interim deal.
Diplomats say ongoing discussions between the two sides also include forming a consortium, which would involve the US and regional countries, to develop new facilities for low-level uranium enrichment. It is unclear where the facilities would be located.
But Trump this week again insisted Iran must completely dismantle its nuclear programme, something his administration argues is necessary to prevent Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran’s leaders have described stopping enrichment on the country’s soil as a red line, saying the nuclear programme is for civilian use and Tehran has a right to enrich uranium as a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty.
“If we have 100 nuclear plants without uranium enrichment, it’s useless,” Khamenei said. “Because nuclear plants need fuel, and if we cannot produce it domestically, we have to beg the US, which might impose dozens of conditions to supply us with nuclear fuel.”
Washington and Tehran have so far held five rounds of talks, facilitated by Oman, with Trump threatening military action if negotiations break down.
But the discussions have been complicated by mixed messages from the US and the historic distrust between the two adversaries.
Trump, who abandoned an earlier nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers during his first term, has since returning to office this year reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.
Iran, in turn, has continued to ramp up enrichment, with a UN nuclear watchdog finding that it had increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons grade by about 50 per cent since February.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was the only non-nuclear weapons state known to have uranium enrichment to such a high degree, describing it as “a matter of serious concern”.
Iran’s leaders say they will not leave the negotiating table, and hope that Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia can help persuade Trump to avoid military escalation and urge Israel to do the same.
“We have been consistent about our position on uranium enrichment. It is the US that cannot make up its mind,” a senior Iranian official told the Financial Times, without revealing details about the US proposal. “Nonetheless, we are working towards holding the sixth round of talks.”
A regional consortium could offer both Iran and the US a way to claim a form of victory.
Iran would be able to meet its domestic civilian needs, while the US could assert that it has dismantled critical uranium conversion and processing infrastructure, thereby preventing Tehran from ever developing a nuclear bomb.
The idea has been raised before but never got off the ground because Iran always wanted it to be based in the republic.
“Iran is looking for a way to guarantee its right to enrichment, while embedding that right in trust building and guarantees,” said Sanam Vakil, head of the Middle East programme at Chatham House.
“The problem of where we are is they are negotiating in the public domain,” Vakil said. “Instead of seeing compromise and progress, we are seeing high-level officials, if not heads of state, negotiating over social media, which is not conducive to a compromise.”
Additional reporting by Andrew England in London and Henry Foy in Brussels