Iran is poised to reject a US proposal to end a decades-long nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, slamming it as a "non-starter" that fails to address Tehran's interests and leaves Washington's stance on uranium enrichment unchanged. "Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer," the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran's negotiating team, told Reuters.
The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. But after five rounds of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to resolve the nuclear standoff, many issues remain unresolved.
Among clashing red lines is Iran's rejection of a US demand that Tehran commit to scrapping uranium enrichment, viewed as a potential pathway to developing nuclear bombs. Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
"In this proposal, the US stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions," said the diplomat, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. (Read More)
