A new round of nuclear talks between U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi could possibly take place this weekend, reports Axios.
The report comes hours after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized an initial proposal from the United States in negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, though he stopped short of entirely rejecting the idea of agreement with Washington.
"There is one point that is a key element in the nuclear industry, and that is uranium enrichment. A nuclear industry without enrichment capabilities is useless because we would then be dependent on others to obtain fuel for our power plants," he said.
The U.S. demand to give up enriching uranium in any possible deal, he added, would make Iran reliant on other countries for nuclear fuel and material.
"Thousands of nuclear scientists and researchers have been trained in Iran. Should we disappoint them, make them unemployed and take away their hope in our country's future? The rude, insolent U.S. leaders want this. In the current nuclear talks that are being mediated by Oman, the U.S. proposal is 100% against the spirit of 'We can,'" he said.
"To the American side and others, we say, 'Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That's none of your business,'" he added.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.