Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered a speech today addressing recent developments in negotiations between Tehran and Washington. In his remarks, Khamenei focused on the issue of uranium enrichment, a key point of contention in the talks. He criticized ongoing U.S. efforts to pressure Iran into halting enrichment activities at its nuclear facilities, signaling continued resistance to American demands.
Khamenei described uranium enrichment as the "master key" to Iran’s nuclear industry, arguing that without it, the sector cannot function independently, he warned that giving up enrichment would leave the country reliant on foreign powers to fuel its civilian nuclear reactors.
Even if we had 100 nuclear reactors, without enrichment, they’d be useless— because nuclear power plants require fuel. If we can’t produce that fuel ourselves, we’d have to go begging to the US, and they might set dozens of conditions just to give us fuel.
Ali Khamenei
Khamenei also accused the United States of attempting to deceive Iran over uranium enrichment in the early 2000s. He claimed that Washington sent two heads of state to mediate a deal in which Iran would send 3.5% enriched uranium to the U.S. in exchange for 20% nuclear fuel needed at the time. However, the agreement ultimately fell through after the U.S. allegedly refused to allow Iranian officials to inspect the fuel before transferring their enriched uranium.
I said the exchange must be done like this: They bring the 20% enriched fuel to Bandar Abbas, we test it to ensure it’s genuine, and then we hand over the 3.5% in return. When they saw that we were serious and insistent on inspecting the 20% fuel first, they backed out of the deal and broke their promise.
Ali Khamenei
At the conclusion of his speech, Khamenei made clear that Iran would not accept the recent U.S. proposal. He emphasized that Iran is a strong nation with advanced nuclear facilities and skilled personnel, and stated that the country would never abandon its nuclear capabilities.
The latest American proposal is 100% against our doctrine and against our positions.
Ali Khamenei