{"id":15138,"date":"2025-06-04T12:16:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T11:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=15138"},"modified":"2025-06-04T12:16:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T11:16:31","slug":"khamenei-slams-us-nuclear-proposal-but-leaves-deal-door-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/asia\/middle-east\/iran\/khamenei-slams-us-nuclear-proposal-but-leaves-deal-door-open\/2025\/06\/04\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei slams US nuclear proposal but leaves deal door open"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Iran\u2019s supreme leader on Wednesday criticized an initial proposal from the United States in\u00a0negotiations over Tehran\u2019s rapidly advancing nuclear program<\/a><\/span>, though he stopped short of entirely rejecting the idea of agreement with Washington.<\/p>\n

The remarks by Ayatollah\u00a0Ali Khamenei<\/a><\/span>\u00a0colored in the red line expressed over recent days \u2014 one that says Tehran refuses to give up enriching uranium in any possible deal with the U.S.<\/p>\n

That demand has been repeatedly made by American officials, including President Donald Trump, though it remains unclear just how much U.S Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff brought it up in his initial proposal to Iran.<\/p>\n

But what Khamenei did not say in his speech matters as well. He didn\u2019t reject the talks, which Iran views as crucial for its economy to lift some the crushing economic sanctions it faces.<\/p>\n

\n

Khamenei also did not insist on any specific level of nuclear enrichment. Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% \u2014 a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has led the talks with Witkoff, said Tehran soon will offer its response to the U.S. Khamenei\u2019s speech Wednesday at the mausoleum of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini may serve as a preview.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had 100 nuclear power plants while not having enrichment, they are not usable for us,\u201d Khamenei said. \u201cIf we do not have enrichment, then we should extend our hand (begging) to the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khamenei touched on previous remarks<\/h2>\n

The 86-year-old Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state in Iran, often balances his remarks over the demands of reformists within the country who want the talks against hard-line elements within Iran\u2019s theocracy, including the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.<\/p>\n

Late in August, Khamenei in a speech\u00a0opened the door to possible talks with the U.S.<\/a><\/span>, saying there is \u201cno harm\u201d in engaging with the \u201cenemy.\u201d The\u00a0supreme leader later tempered that<\/a><\/span>, saying that negotiations with America \u201care not intelligent, wise or honorable,\u201d after Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran.<\/p>\n

Khamenei\u2019s speech on Wednesday, marking the anniversary of Khomeini\u2019s death, offered an opportunity to discuss Witkoff\u2019s proposal. He described it as \u201c100% against the idea of \u2018we can,\u2019\u201d borrowing from an Iranian government slogan. He described the U.S. as having long sought the dismantling of Iran\u2019s entire nuclear industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impolite and insolent American leaders keep repeating this demand with different wordings,\u201d Khamenei said.<\/p>\n

He added, using a slogan he\u2019s said before: \u201cThose currently in power, Zionist or American, should be aware that they can\u2019t do a damn thing about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some nuclear power nations do get uranium from outside suppliers, however. Experts long have viewed Iran as using its nuclear program as a chip in negotiations with the West to get sanctions relief.<\/p>\n

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Iran\u2019s supreme leader on Wednesday criticized an initial proposal from the United States in\u00a0negotiations over Tehran\u2019s rapidly advancing nuclear program, though he stopped short of entirely rejecting the idea of agreement with Washington. The remarks by Ayatollah\u00a0Ali Khamenei\u00a0colored in the red line expressed over recent days \u2014 one that […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[2450,8273],"tags":[77,151,201,9656],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Iran-1.png","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15140,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15138\/revisions\/15140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}