Iranian supreme leader says issue of uranium enrichment remains key to Tehran’s pursuit of energy independence.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pledged that Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment, rejecting a key demand in a United States proposal aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The comments were delivered in a speech on Wednesday as the US and Iran continue to negotiate the details of a possible new nuclear deal. The issue of uranium enrichment has remained a sticking point in the talks, with the US reportedly demanding a complete halt or low-level enrichment in exchange for the lifting of Western sanctions against Tehran.
“The US nuclear proposal contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of ‘We Can,’” Khamenei said in his speech delivered on the commemoration of the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
Khamenei said the issue of uranium enrichment remained key to Iran’s pursuit of energy independence.
“Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America,” he said, adding that the US proposal was “100 percent against” the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
He said Tehran would not seek Washington’s approval for its decisions.
“Some people think that rationality means bowing down to America and surrendering to the oppressive power; this is not rationality,” Khamenei said.
“Why are you interfering in whether Iran should have enrichment or not? You cannot have a say.”
On Monday, the Reuters news agency had reported that Tehran was poised to reject the latest US proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, quoting an unnamed diplomat as saying the proposal was a “non-starter” that fails to soften Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment or to address Tehran’s interests.
Tehran said 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.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, who heads the American delegation in talks with Iran, has said President Donald Trump opposes Tehran continuing any enrichment, calling it a “red line”.
A leaked United Nations report shows that Iran has ramped up production of enriched uranium near weapons-grade by 50 percent in the last three months. It is still short, however, of the roughly 90 percent required for atomic weapons, but still significantly above the 4 percent or so needed for power production.
Iran, however, has rejected the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it is “politically motivated and repeates baseless accusations”.