Uranium enrichment will continue ‘with or without’ nuclear deal: Tehran
The Cradle, May 19, 2025 ─
US envoy Steve Witkoff said this week that Washington will not allow Iran to enrich ‘even one percent’.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry fired back at Washington on 19 May for recent statements insisting that Tehran abandon uranium enrichment as part of any nuclear deal, one day after the foreign minister vowed that enrichment will continue “with or without a deal.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baqaei said in a statement that the US taking such “contradictory positions” will “prolong the talks and lead to a loss of trust.”
“This track of talks cannot be brought to a conclusion given the shifting and contradictory positions. Under such circumstances, we do not expect an atmosphere of mutual trust,” he added, also condemning the continued imposition of sanctions against Iran.
In comments to Iranian media on Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that the nuclear talks will “lead nowhere” if the US continues to insist on Iran abandoning its enrichment of uranium.
“Our position on enrichment is clear and we have repeatedly stated that it is a national achievement from which we will not back down,” he added. Takht-Ravanchi previously proposed the idea of a regional nuclear consortium including Iran and the US, provided it was “developed seriously.”
According to a recent New York Times (NYT) report, Iran had floated the idea during nuclear talks.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry statements follow recent comments by US officials doubling down on demands that Iran completely abandon uranium enrichment, which Tehran has repeatedly rejected.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said at the World Jewish Congress on 18 May that “the president is very clear: They are not going to have a nuclear weapon, they are not going to enrich, they are going to have total dismantlement, and those are the words that he has put.”
On the same day, US envoy to the region Steve Witkoff said in an interview: “We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even one percent of an enrichment capability.”
Responding to the statements, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that “Mastering enrichment technology is a hard-earned and homegrown scientific achievement; an outcome of great sacrifice of both blood and treasure,” adding that enrichment “will continue with or without a deal.”
The last round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington concluded last weekend. Iranian officials noted a somewhat positive atmosphere, yet stressed that talks remain difficult.
Days later, US President Donald Trump said a deal is within reach, adding that Tehran has “sort of” agreed to US terms and that a military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities is likely avoidable.
Prior to the talks and even after the first few rounds were held, Trump had repeatedly threatened Iran with a US and Israeli-coordinated attack on Iranian nuclear facilities if a deal was not reached.
Iranian officials have said that the country may be willing to accept certain restrictions, including a cap on enrichment, as was the case in the 2015 deal reached during former US president Barack Obama’s term, which Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.
Ali Shamkhani, advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said last week that Tehran would agree to give up stockpiles of highly enriched uranium in exchange for the “immediate” lifting of sanctions.
A day earlier, the deputy foreign minister stated that the Islamic Republic is open to accepting temporary restrictions on its uranium enrichment program in exchange for relief from US sanctions.