Iran’s supreme leader criticizes US proposal in nuclear talks but doesn’t reject the idea of a deal

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI United Arab Emirates AP Iran s supreme leader on Wednesday criticized an initial proposal from the United States in negotiations over Tehran s rapidly advancing nuclear operation though he stopped short of entirely rejecting the idea of agreement with Washington The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei colored in the red line expressed over new days one that says Tehran refuses to give up enriching uranium in any manageable deal with the U S That demand has been repeatedly made by American administrators including President Donald Trump though it remains unclear just how much U S Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff brought it up in his initial proposal to Iran In this photo distributed by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd as he arrives for a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini shown in the poster in background as Ayatollah Khomeini s grandson Hassan stands at right at his shrine just outside Tehran Iran Wednesday June Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP But what Khamenei did not say in his speech matters as well He didn t reject the talks which Iran views as crucial for its economic system to lift certain the crushing economic sanctions it faces Khamenei also did not insist on any specific level of nuclear enrichment Iran now enriches uranium up to a short technical step from weapons-grade levels Iran s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who has led the talks with Witkoff stated Tehran soon will offer its response to the U S Khamenei s speech Wednesday at the mausoleum of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini may serve as a preview If we had nuclear power plants while not having enrichment they are not usable for us Khamenei declared If we do not have enrichment then we should extend our hand begging to the U S Khamenei touched on previous remarks The -year-old Khamenei who has final say on all matters of state in Iran often balances his remarks over the demands of reformists within the country who want the talks against hard-line elements within Iran s theocracy including the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Related Articles US and Europe commerce negotiators discuss tariffs in Paris Mexican girl is granted humanitarian parole to continue receiving lifesaving care in US lawyers say Federal lawsuit accusing Peter Navarro of using unofficial email account dropped Trump asks Congress to claw back billions in approved spending targeted by DOGE Federal officers in tactical gear went into a Latino society in Minneapolis A protest followed Late in August Khamenei in a speech opened the door to manageable talks with the U S saying there is no harm in engaging with the enemy The supreme leader later tempered that saying that negotiations with America are not intelligent wise or honorable after Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran Khamenei s speech on Wednesday marking the anniversary of Khomeini s death offered an opportunity to discuss Witkoff s proposal He described it as against the idea of we can borrowing from an Iranian ruling body slogan He described the U S as having long sought the dismantling of Iran s entire nuclear industry The impolite and insolent American leaders keep repeating this demand with different wordings Khamenei commented He added using a slogan he s reported before Those now in power Zionist or American should be aware that they can t do a damn thing about this Selected nuclear power nations do get uranium from outside suppliers however Experts long have viewed Iran as using its nuclear plan as a chip in negotiations with the West to get sanctions relief Details of American proposal are still murky The details of the American proposal remain unclear after five rounds of talks between Iran and the U S A review by the news website Axios on the American proposal the details of which a U S official separately endorsed include a manageable nuclear consortium that would enrich uranium for Iran and surrounding nations Whether Iran would have to entirely give up its enrichment activity remains unclear as Axios released that Iran would be able to enrich uranium up to purity for a few time A failure to get a deal could see tensions further spike in a Middle East already on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip Iran s long-ailing business activity could enter a free fall that could worsen the simmering unrest at home Israel or the U S might carry out long-threatened airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities And Tehran may decide to fully end its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog and rush toward a bomb Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran Iran contributed to this analysis