Iran Clarifies That Nuclear Talks Will Fail If US Pushes Zero Enrichment

Last week, a top Iranian nuclear official floated the possibility that the Islamic Republic would be willing to given up enriching uranium in return for full sanctions relief from Washington.

But amid ongoing negotiations, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has produced something more official, firing back at Washington on Monday for recent Trump admin statements insisting that Tehran abandon uranium enrichment as part of any future nuclear deal.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baqaei said in a statement that the US taking such “contradictory positions” will only “prolong the talks and lead to a loss of trust.” It’s clear that Iranian leadership doesn’t want to be seen as quickly cowering before American pressure.

At this point Tehran is vowing that enrichment will continue “with or without a deal” and that this is its right to do so as a matter of national sovereignty. 

“This track of talks cannot be brought to a conclusion given the shifting and contradictory positions. Under such circumstances, we do not expect an atmosphere of mutual trust,” Baqaei added.

And separately, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that the nuclear talks will “lead nowhere” with the current White House stance that enrichment must be taken to zero.

“Our position on enrichment is clear and we have repeatedly stated that it is a national achievement from which we will not back down,” he said.

President Trump during his Gulf tour last week said largely optimistic things concerning a possible future new deal with the Iranians.

He said an agreement was very close but that Iran needed to move quickly, and that serious consequences await if Tehran doesn’t. He’s previously gone so far as to say it’s a matter of either signing a deal or being bombed – something Iranian leaders balked at.

But Steve Witkoff on the Sunday news shows made clear that the issue of abandoning enrichment is a “red line” from the US administration…

Witkoff says the “red line” for Iran is no enrichment, not even one percent, which everyone who’s followed this issue over the past 15 years knows is a complete nonstarter for Iran. This also happens to be the position of Senate Republicans and Israelis who favor bombing Iran pic.twitter.com/IpDjA5H4Wx

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 18, 2025

Last week the Trump White House indicated it sent Iran a written proposal toward forging a new nuclear deal. White House envoy Witkoff has led several rounds of talks, and Axios has revealed that the communication was issued to Tehran last Sunday.

“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took the proposal back to Tehran for consultations with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and other top officials,” wrote Axios.