Iran's foreign minister disputed President Donald Trump's remarks Friday that the U.S. has provided the Islamic regime with a new proposal regarding its nuclear program.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while returning from a four-day trip to the Middle East that "they have a proposal, more importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad's going to happen."
But Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote Friday in a post on X that his country hasn't received a proposal from the U.S. and called messaging from the administration "confusing and contradictory."
The sides held a fourth round of talks Sunday in Oman to reach a compromise to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon.
"Iran has not received any written proposal from the United States, whether directly or indirectly," Araghchi wrote. "In the meantime, the messaging we — and the world — continue to receive is confusing and contradictory. Iran nonetheless remains determined and straightforward: Respect our rights and terminate your sanctions, and we have a deal."
Trump imposed stricter sanctions this week on Iranian oil exports, targeting nearly two dozen firms it said were involved in Iran's oil trade as part of its maximum pressure campaign to squeeze the Iranian economy.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told NBC News earlier this week that Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, dispose of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that can be weaponized, agree to enrich uranium only to lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to supervise the process in exchange for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions.
"Mark my words: There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to enrichment for peaceful purposes: a right afforded to all other NPT [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] signatories, too," Araghchi wrote. "The Great Iranian Nation has shown its Power and Fortitude in the face of those who have attempted imposition. We ALWAYS welcome dialogue based on mutual respect and ALWAYS reject any diktat."