Iran vows to keep enriching uranium despite US demand for halt in new deal talks

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran’s apical diplomat insisted Wednesday that Tehran volition ne'er halt enriching uranium, further underlining the Islamic Republic's reddish enactment successful negotiations with the United States implicit its rapidly advancing atomic program.

The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travel aft aggregate rounds of talks betwixt the 2 nations, including astatine an adept level implicit the details of a imaginable deal. However, nary has been reached yet and American officials including President Donald Trump, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio support that Iran indispensable springiness up enrichment — thing it didn't bash successful its 2015 atomic woody with satellite powers.

“I person said it before, and I repetition it again: uranium enrichment successful Iran volition proceed — with oregon without an agreement,” Araghchi said, according to authorities television.

Araghchi added that Iran is “currently reviewing whether to enactment successful the adjacent circular and erstwhile to instrumentality part” successful talks with the U.S. The U.S. and Oman, which is mediating the negotiations, person yet to denote immoderate 5th circular of talks. Trump's travel to the Mideast past week delayed immoderate caller meeting. Negotiators antecedently met successful Muscat, Oman, and Rome.

“We person ne'er abandoned diplomacy. We volition ever beryllium contiguous astatine the negotiating table, and the main crushed for our beingness is to support the rights of the Iranian people,” Araghchi said. “We basal against excessive demands and rhetoric astatine the table.”

Araghchi’s remarks came a time aft Iran’s ultimate leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said helium didn't expecting the negotiations to nutrient a deal.

“I don’t deliberation atomic talks with the U.S. volition bring results. I don’t know,” Khamenei said.

The talks question to bounds Iran’s atomic programme successful speech for the lifting of immoderate of the crushing economical sanctions the U.S. has imposed connected the Islamic Republic, closing successful connected fractional a period of enmity.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a woody isn’t reached. Iranian officials progressively pass that they could prosecute a atomic weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to adjacent weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to onslaught Iran’s atomic facilities connected its ain if it feels threatened, further worsening tensions successful the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas warfare successful the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s 2015 atomic woody with satellite powers capped Tehran’s enrichment level astatine 3.67% and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms (661 pounds). That level is capable for atomic powerfulness plants, but acold beneath weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Since the atomic woody collapsed successful 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned each limits connected its programme and enriched uranium to up to 60% purity — a short, method measurement from weapons-grade levels. There person besides been a bid of attacks astatine oversea and connected onshore successful caller years, stemming from the tensions adjacent earlier the Israel-Hamas warfare began.

___

Associated Press writers Gabe Levin and Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.