Iran's supreme leader rejects key US nuclear demand, vows to keep enriching uranium
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment, rejecting a key US demand aimed at resolving a decades-long nuclear dispute, that he said was against the Islamic Republic's interests.
The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
After five rounds of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran's insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and Tehran's refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium – possible raw material for nuclear bombs.
'Uranium enrichment is the key to our nuclear programme and the enemies have focused on the enrichment,' Khamenei said in a televised speech. The US proposal 'contradicts our nation's belief in self-reliance and the principle of 'we can',' he said.
'The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear programme. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have an enrichment?,' he added.
Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US hits Hong Kong and UAE firms with new round of Iran-related sanctions
The US has issued a new round of Iran-related sanctions targeting 10 individuals and 27 entities, including at least two companies it said were linked to Iran's national tanker company, the US Treasury Department said on Friday. Advertisement The sanctions, which target Iranian nationals and some entities in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, were announced as US President Donald Trump's administration is working to get a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Ace Petrochem FZE, and Moderate General Trading LLC, both registered in the UAE, to its Specially Designated Nationals List, freezing any of their US assets. OFAC said they are both linked to the state-owned National Iranian Tanker Company which is under US sanctions for exporting oil. Talks between Iran and the US that aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions have been stuck over disagreements about uranium enrichment. Advertisement Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump-Xi call: China hawk Rubio missing in action as leaders rekindle trade hopes
The conspicuous absence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio from preparations for the much-anticipated phone call between Chinese and US leaders – and from subsequent trade talk announcements – has raised questions about his influence in shaping bilateral ties. Advertisement US President Donald Trump on Thursday described his 90-minute conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'very positive', and announced on his social media platform that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent , Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would head future negotiations with China. Observers said the call, following a 90-day truce last month, rekindled hopes of cooling heightened US-China tensions over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals, placing trade talks as the most pressing and dominating issue for bilateral ties in the near future. They noted a shift in Washington's approach to China, driven largely by economic pragmatism and Trump's preference for personal deal-making, while some said it signalled Rubio's diminished role in US-China ties. In the past, direct engagements between US and Chinese leaders were usually preceded by groundwork involving China's top diplomats and their US counterparts, namely, the secretary of state or the national security adviser. Advertisement Regular face-to-face dialogue between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also Xi's top foreign policy aide, and former national security adviser Jake Sullivan and former US secretary of state Antony Blinken helped set the stage for Xi's multiple meetings and calls with Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump and Musk not expected to speak on Friday
US President Donald Trump and his one-time close ally, billionaire Elon Musk, were now not expected to talk on Friday, despite efforts by White House aides to get a truce after a huge public clash the previous day. A White House official told Reuters that no call was planned for Friday. An official had said earlier that the two men would speak on Friday. A call could ease the feuding after an extraordinary day of hostilities – largely conducted over social media – that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla closed down over 14 per cent on Thursday, losing about US$150 billion in market value in the largest single-day decline in value in the electric vehicle maker's history. In pre-market trading on Friday they reduced some of those losses, rising as much as 5 per cent after the early news that the two men were scheduled to speak. 01:39 Bromance implodes as Trump 'very disappointed' by Musk's bill criticism Bromance implodes as Trump 'very disappointed' by Musk's bill criticism Musk had bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought in as one of the president's most visible advisers, heading up a sweeping and controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
