Iran's supreme leader rejects U.S. stance on uranium enrichment
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a memorial in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, for late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday pushed back against U.S. criticism of the country's nuclear program, saying that Tehran won't seek permission from anyone to enrich uranium and calling American statements 'nonsense.'
'They say, 'We won't allow Iran to enrich uranium.' That's way out of line,' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a memorial for late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year. 'No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and direction — and it will stick to them.'
Khamenei's remarks came as indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. reportedly continue, though he expressed doubt about their outcome.
'Yes, indirect negotiations were held during Raisi's time too, just like now,' he said. 'But they didn't go anywhere — and we don't expect much from the current ones either. Who knows what will happen.'
His comments reflect Tehran's growing frustration with the stalled nuclear discussions, as well as the broader tensions that have defined U.S.-Iran relations in recent years.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told the state-run IRNA news agency that 'no definitive decision has been made about the next round of negotiations,' adding that 'the Islamic Republic of Iran is reviewing the matter while considering the U.S. side's contradictory and constantly changing positions.'
IRNA also reported that Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy foreign minister, said that Tehran had received a proposal regarding the next round of indirect talks with Washington and was currently reviewing it.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
an hour ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Trump Travel Ban Rattles Immigrant Communities across U.S.
Valerie Plesch/For The Washington Post A woman carries a platter and groceries for Eid al-Adha as she leaves the Afghan Market in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday. Immigrants from the dozen countries targeted by President Donald Trump's travel ban have put down roots in all 50 states, many escaping violence or political instability in their homelands. They left spouses, children and friends behind, hoping one day to be reunited. Overnight, those hopes have been shattered. Even plans for visits to or from relatives – for graduations, weddings or funerals – are now very uncertain. 'There's already this heightened awareness and heightened atmosphere of fear,' said Amaha Kassa, executive director of the nonprofit African Communities Together. In his executive order, Trump said the ban was based on 'foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism goals.' Yet immigrants like Roozbeh Farahanipour, who left Iran in 2000 and now owns three restaurants in Los Angeles, said Trump's action will punish individuals and families who pose no threat to the United States. Farahanipour was fielding calls Thursday from fellow Iranians in his community and back home, who are terrified about what the ban means for their future. His own story, he said, reflects a quintessential American success story. 'I want other people to follow me,' he added. 'I don't want to be the last American Dream.' Haitians in Ohio Gangs have taken over much of Haiti since the 2021 assassination of its president, pushing families to seek safety anywhere they can. Yet those who fled the violence now face a different danger in the United States: The temporary protected status (TPS) that has allowed hundreds of thousands of Haitians to work in the U.S. is set to expire in August. Yvena Jean François is among those whose future is at risk. She hadn't heard about the president's travel ban until she clocked into work Thursday at an Amazon warehouse in Springfield, Ohio, where many of those laboring around her were also Haitian. Everyone has been scared since Trump's election, she said, with the travel ban only the latest blow. Innocent civilians are the ones trying to escape Haiti, she noted, and her friends back home say the situation has only deteriorated since she left. François, a journalist, saw the carnage firsthand as she documented events. 'Following all the news,' she said, 'is nothing but stress.' As many as 15,000 Haitians have settled in her county, according to local estimates, with most of the newcomers arriving legally in the past five years. As Springfield pushed to revive its once-prosperous manufacturing sector, business leaders aimed recruitment efforts at Haitians to alleviate labor shortages. Some plants in town now employ Creole-speaking interpreters. Haitian restaurants, convenience stores and hair salons have opened their doors. At the same time, the burst of arrivals crowded medical clinics and classrooms, sparking some complaints in the city of roughly 60,000 and attention from far-right pundits. Trump blasted the immigrants last year during the campaign, saying they had 'destroyed' Springfield. The city's Republican mayor pushed back against the 'mischaracterization of our city.' Under the still-glaring political spotlight, community leaders say many Haitians in town are scared to venture out beyond school, work and church. The new ban may only intensify their fears. François, 39, prays that a judge will rule to preserve her protected status, as was the case in 2018. The Trump administration, she said, 'keeps making life harder for us.' Afghans and Somalis in Texas Valerie Plesch/For The Washington Post An employee at the Afghan Market in Alexandria carries a platter of homemade pastries on the day before Eid al-Adha. Thousands of Afghans raced to escape their country in 2021 when U.S. troops withdrew and the Taliban assumed power. In Somalia, another country on the travel ban list, humanitarian groups say the government suppresses citizens' basic rights. Immigrants from both of these places settled in Houston's Gulfton neighborhood, filling apartments and working to rebuild their lives. In one small strip mall here that caters to Afghans – with a clothing store, barbershop, restaurant and bakery offering familiarity – workers set trays of cookies outside as a steady stream of families flowed through Thursday, shopping for the Eid al-Adha holiday. Hasebullah Akhundzada, 20, migrated from Kabul four years ago, first to Boston, then to Houston. He left most relatives behind, in a country still controlled by the extremist Taliban regime. 'The whole family is over there,' he said as he helped customers at the Afghan Bazaar peruse glittering bangles, leather sandals, and racks of colorful embroidered shalwar kameez, traditional Afghan dress. In the barbershop at the back of the store, Said Jallal, 27, a security guard from outside Kabul, said that when he heard about the travel ban, he immediately thought of his wife, brother and father. All remain in Afghanistan. A few doors down in the same strip mall, Ali Ahmed nursed tea at Chai n Paan, a cafe broadcasting Al Jazeera and Arabic language news on several big screens. Ahmed, 41, came from Somalia 25 years ago after spending a decade in a Kenyan refugee camp. His wife and six children, ages 2 through 11, have been visiting Somalia for a family wedding and are due to return by summer's end – which makes the travel ban 'scary.' All have U.S. passports, he said, but 'you never know what's going to happen.' He has his own travel horror stories, though. He says immigration officials always pull him aside at airports for added screening in windowless rooms – traumatizing encounters that in recent years have taken seven to 10 hours, forcing him to miss flights and causing 'humiliation' and 'stigma.' He now shows up at airports five hours in advance. 'It makes you think you're doing something wrong, even though you're not.' And with the travel ban, he predicted, 'this is going to get worse, much worse.' Iranians in California On the west side of Los Angeles, in a neighborhood known as Tehrangeles, Iranian Americans received news of the president's ban with a mixture of resignation and dread. Iran was targeted in Trump's 2017 ban, and the country is in the middle of tumultuous negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program. Many figured it was only a matter of time until the travel prohibition was revived. Farahanipour recounted how he was imprisoned and tortured for his role helping to lead the Iranian student uprisings of 1999. He sought exile in the U.S. after his country's government issued a death sentence against him. From a table inside his Mary and Robb's Westwood Cafe, he said Trump's order is overly broad and will punish average Iranians who are just looking to visit relatives, receive medical care or study in the U.S. 'I don't think they're going to make the country safer,' he said. 'It's a blanket ban for normal, random people.' Alex Helmi, another Iranian business owner, said the policy will be especially harmful for Iranian students – who for years have studied in the United States as part of a cultural and academic exchange that Helmi still believes will ultimately lead to a more open Iran. 'Students come and see the democracy here and they go back,' he said. 'It's good for our country.' Down the street at Shahrzad Travel, a travel agency that primarily serves the city's Iranian community – the world's largest outside Iran – phones were ringing nonstop Thursday morning. Sherry Tahouri, the company's owner, said she is telling her clients that they must wait and see whether the president's order changes or is challenged. 'I think it's wrong,' she said. 'But I cannot say what he should do or not because I don't have control.' Stuck in limbo Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, who leads Global Refuge, a resettlement agency that handles refugee placements across the U.S., said Thursday that the organization was fielding calls from terrified clients who don't know whether their cases will proceed or family members will ever make it to the U.S. The emotional toll is enormous, she said, adding anxiety to families who 'are putting down roots and so eager to become contributing Americans.' 'People who have spent years doing everything we asked of them, navigating an already complex system, now face indefinite limbo,' she said. 'For many immigrants from these countries, this order is equally personal. It effectively says, because of where you're from, your family doesn't deserve the same chance to be together. You don't deserve the chance to make your case.' Late Thursday afternoon outside an Afghan supermarket in Alexandria, Virginia, Parwin Azizi Omari, 38, waited with her four children to be picked up from her grocery shopping for Eid al-Adha. It had taken her family a couple of years to get from Afghanistan to the U.S. They fled after the Taliban took over their country, first to Canada, then to New York and finally to the D.C. area, where she found a job as a cook at a local snack company. She has been grateful for the opportunity to rebuild her life. 'In our country, it's not safe,' she said. And since Trump suspended refugee admissions earlier this year and froze aid to resettle refugees, friends and former colleagues back home have become only more desperate. One woman she knew killed herself, Azizi Omari said. 'It's very difficult, because they are waiting for a long, long term,' she said. Now, they probably will have to wait even longer. Kassa, the executive director of African Communities Together, is focusing on supporting the large pockets of Sudanese and Eritreans in the U.S. He fears the ban will prompt some to withdraw from civic life and be less willing to engage with government services. 'What this does, he said, 'is make a region that feels like home to many African immigrants feel less like home.'
The Mainichi
an hour ago
- The Mainichi
US, Chinese officials to meet in London next week for new round of trade talks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senior U.S. administration officials will meet with a Chinese delegation on Monday in London for the next round of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, President Donald Trump said Friday. The meeting comes after a phone call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the U.S. president described as a "very positive" conversation as the two countries attempt to break an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent the U.S. side in the trade talks. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote on his social media platform Friday afternoon. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One Friday, Trump said Xi had agreed to restart exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S. which China had slowed, threatening a range of U.S. manufacturers that relied on the critical materials. The was no immediate confirmation from China. The Thursday conversation between Trump and Xi, who lead the world's two biggest economies, lasted about an hour and a half, according to the U.S. president. The Chinese foreign ministry has said Trump initiated the call. The ministry said Xi asked Trump to "remove the negative measures" that the U.S. has taken against China. It also said that Trump said "the U.S. loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America," although his administration has vowed to revoke some of their visas.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Carney Invites Modi to G7 Summit despite Strained Ties between Canada and India
The Canadian Press via AP Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives to hold a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 6, 2025. TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in Alberta later this month, an invitation Modi accepted despite strained ties between the countries. The countries expelled each other's top diplomats last year over the killing of a Sikh Canadian activist in Canada and allegations of other crimes. The invitation prompted anger from the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which wrote to Carney in May asking him not to invite Modi. Tensions remain high between Canada and India over accusations about Indian government agents being involved in the murder of a Canadian activist for Sikh separatism in British Columbia in 2023. Carney extended the invitation to Modi in a phone call between the two leaders on Friday. The summit runs from June 15 to 17. Carney noted Canada is in the role of G7 chair and said there are important discussions that India should be a part of. 'India is the fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains,' Carney told reporters, adding that there has been some progress on law enforcement dialogue between the two countries. 'I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi and, in that context, he has accepted,' Carney said. Carney said there is a legal process underway in the killing of the Canadian Sikh activist and said he would not comment on the case when asked by a reporter if he thought Modi was involved. The tit-for-tat expulsions came after Canada told India that its top diplomat in the country is a person of interest in the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and that police have uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadian citizens by agents of the Indian government. Modi said he was glad to receive a call from Carney and congratulated him on his recent election victory. 'As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests. Look forward to our meeting at the summit,' Modi said in a social media statement. Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after he left the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland. Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Niijar's murder. Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, called Carney's invitation to Modi a 'betrayal of Canadian values.' 'The summit to which Mr. Modi is being invited falls on the anniversary of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar two years ago,' he said. 'So for us, this is unacceptable, it's shocking and it's a complete reversal of the principled stand that Prime Minister Trudeau had taken.' Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an association on foreign soil. In 2023 U.S. prosecutors said an Indian government official directed a failed plot to assassinate another Sikh separatist leader in New York.
