Tehran has accused Washington on Monday of lacking seriousness and goodwill during negotiations on a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.
Iranian ministry for foreign affairs spokesman Esmail Baghaei compared changes in the US position on uranium enrichment to a “game of snakes and ladders – just as we make progress, the US adopts a different stance”.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that Iran will not be allowed to enrich uranium under any new deal. “We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1 per cent of an enrichment capability,” he told ABC’s This Week programme. Mr Witkoff said “enrichment enables weaponisation. And we will not allow [Iran to get] a bomb”.
In April, Mr Witkoff also demanded a total halt to enrichment, contradicting his suggestion a day earlier that the US could accept low-level enrichment for power plants.
Iranian minister for foreign affairs Abbas Araghchi said Mr Witkoff is “at a distance from the reality of the negotiations”.
Mr Araghchi posted on X: “If the US 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.”
This statement appeared to challenge US president Donald Trump who said on Friday that “Iran has sort of agreed to the terms” of a US proposal.
Mr Witkoff’s remarks – following the fourth round of negotiations – reflected Mr Trump’s earlier demand for the “total dismantling” of Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities. Mr Trump – who withdrew in 2018 from the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran – has threatened Tehran with attack if a deal is not reached in coming weeks.
To avoid military action, a 2007 proposal could be revived allowing Tehran to produce uranium at a low level for power plants. This could be delivered to a consortium of Muslim states, including Saudi Arabia, in return for investment.
When Oman-mediated talks began in April, London-based Iran International reported that Mr Witkoff welcomed Iran’s proposal to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67 per cent for civilian purposes in exchange for the release of frozen US-based financial assets and permission to export oil. Iran would also restore inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency to obtain US and UN sanctions relief.
