Leader: US ‘cannot have a say’ on uranium enrichment
Tehran preparing new counter-proposal to US offer: Advisor
Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that uranium enrichment is the key to the country’s peaceful nuclear program, and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in Tehran, where people had gathered to mark the 36th anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini.
Since April 12, Iran and the US have held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman to resolve a decades-old dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
Both sides have described the talks as “positive and constructive.”
However, in recent weeks, the two countries have clashed over the issue of uranium enrichment in Iran, which Washington says must be brought to zero. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian purposes and views its enrichment industry as a red line.
Ayatollah Khamenei rejected the US proposals for Tehran to ultimately stop all enrichment in the country.
"If we have 100 nuclear power plants but don't have enrichment, they will be of no use to us," because "nuclear power plants need fuel" to operate, he said.
“The first word of the US is that Iran should not have a nuclear industry and should rely on the United States,” the Leader said.
“Our response to the US’ nonsense is clear: they cannot do a damn thing in this matter,” he added.
"The proposal presented by the Americans is 100 percent against" notions of independence and self-reliance, the Leader said, adding that, "Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America."
On Saturday, Iran said it had received "elements" of the US proposal through Omani mediators, the details of which have not been publicly disclosed.
Preparing counter-proposal
Ali Shamkhani, a political advisor to the Leader said on Wednesday that Iran is drafting a counter-proposal to the latest US nuclear offer.
He added that the US proposal for a nuclear agreement was not well thought out and made no mention whatsoever of lifting the sanctions.
Shamkhani criticized the omission of sanctions relief in the US offer, describing it as a “fundamental” issue for Tehran.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” the Leader’s aide said.
Shamkhani underlined, “Iran will never relinquish its natural rights.”
He said Iran will not allow the United States to achieve its objectives regarding the elimination of Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program and reduction of the level of uranium enrichment to zero.
Limited uranium enrichment
US media reports said Tuesday the US administration is proposing an arrangement that would permit "limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil for a to-be-determined period of time."
“Under the proposal, the United States would facilitate the building of nuclear power reactors for Iran and negotiate the construction of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries,” The New York Times wrote. “Once Iran began receiving any benefits from those promises, it would have to stop all enrichment in the country.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US President Donald Trump that he was ready to use Russia's close partnership with Iran to help with negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Trump said after a phone call with Putin on Wednesday that time was running out for Iran to make a decision on its nuclear program.
"We have close partner relations with Tehran and, naturally, President Putin said that we are ready to use this level of partnership with Tehran in order to facilitate and contribute to the negotiations that are taking place to resolve the issue of the Iranian nuclear dossier," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.