Iran's supreme leader rejects US nuclear proposal
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says a US proposal for a nuclear deal is against Iran's national interests and that the Islamic republic will maintain uranium enrichment.
The issue of uranium enrichment has been a sticking point in negotiations between the US and Iran.
Khamenei described the US proposal as "100 per cent against the idea of 'we can,'" borrowing from an Iranian government slogan.
He also insisted that Tehran needed to keep its ability to enrich uranium.
"If we had 100 nuclear power plants while not having enrichment, they are not usable for us," Khamenei said.
"If we do not have enrichment, then we should extend our hand (begging) to the US."
On Monday, an Iranian diplomat told Reuters Tehran was poised to reject a US proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, dismissing it as a "non-starter" that fails to soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment or to address Tehran's interests.
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.
Details of the American proposal remain unclear after five rounds of talks between Iran and the US.
A report by the news website Axios outlined details of the American proposal, the details of which a US official separately confirmed, include a possible nuclear consortium enriching uranium for Iran and surrounding nations.
Whether Iran would have to entirely give up its enrichment program remains unclear, as Axios reported that the Middle East nation would be able to enrich uranium up to three per cent purity for some time.
Reaching a deal is one of the several diplomatic priorities being juggled by US President Donald Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. An accord could see the United States lift some of its crushing economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for it drastically limiting or ending its enrichment of uranium.
with AP
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