Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has categorically rejected the possibility of curtailing the country's uranium enrichment programme, branding ongoing nuclear negotiations with the United States as “complete nonsense” and wholly incompatible with Tehran’s national interests.
Speaking from the mausoleum of the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in southern Tehran, during the commemoration of his 36th death anniversary, Khamenei asserted that the Islamic Republic would not tolerate external interference in its sovereign nuclear ambitions.
“The first word of the US is that Iran should not have a nuclear industry and should rely on the United States,” the Supreme Leader said in a televised address. “Our response to the US’ nonsense is clear: they cannot do a damn thing in this matter.”
Reports suggest the current US administration recently floated a proposal that would permit Iran to carry out limited, low-level enrichment of uranium under strict controls — a potential concession aimed at breaking the impasse in long-stalled nuclear negotiations. The deal is understood to include American backing for constructing nuclear reactors in Iran and a plan to involve regional allies in managing enrichment facilities.
However, Khamenei was unequivocal in his criticism, describing the offer as not only unacceptable but also fundamentally at odds with Iran’s principle of self-reliance. “In the nuclear issue, the US plan is 100 per cent against ‘we can’,” he said, invoking a national ethos of independence and scientific progress.
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Citing the 1980s precedent of fuel denial by Western nations, Khamenei added: “Why are you interfering? Whether Iran has enrichment or not, what does it matter to you? Who are you?”
According to international experts, Iran’s uranium stockpile is already enriched to 60 per cent, and enrichment to 90 per cent would produce weapons-grade material sufficient for 8 to 9 nuclear bombs. Some estimates warn that, at its current pace, Iran could possess nuclear weapons by year-end.
The proposed deal reportedly precludes any further enrichment of Iran’s existing stockpile, in line with long-standing American and Israeli concerns that a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an arms race in the already volatile Middle East.
Khamenei, however, underscored that nuclear science held broader significance for Iran beyond power generation. “The nuclear industry is a parent industry. Numerous scientific fields are affected by the nuclear industry,” he said.
He further stressed the nuclear programme’s centrality to Iranian sovereignty. “National independence means that the country should not wait for the green or red light from the United States and its ilk,” he declared.
The Trump-era blueprint for limited enrichment, now reportedly revived in modified form, aims to create a framework in which Iran’s nuclear activities are both restricted and monitored. Nevertheless, the Supreme Leader’s remarks suggest any compromise will be met with fierce resistance in Tehran.
As regional tensions continue to escalate, particularly amid Israel’s deepening control over Gaza and the West Bank, Iran’s nuclear policy remains a flashpoint in the broader Middle Eastern power struggle.
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