Khamenei rejects US demand Iran nix nuclear program

Iran will never give up its uranium enrichment program, the Islamic republic’s supreme leader declares, defying Trump administration’s effort to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Iran’s top cleric and supreme leader ruled out any agreement with the US that would require ending the country’s uranium enrichment activity in an apparent rejection of the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate a new nuclear deal that would include a full cessation of all atomic programs – military and civilian.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed a crowd in Tehran on Wednesday at an event marking the 36th anniversary of the death of his predecessor Ruhollah Khomeini, attributing anti-Israel sentiment around the world to the late leader of Iran’s Islamic revolution.

“The leader of our revolution is a great man whose presence in the world is still tangible after 30-odd years since his passing, and the impact of his revolution is clearly visible to people around the world,” Khamenei said

“The sharp decline in America’s position in the world is due to his presence, and hatred of Zionists is due to his revolution.”

Khamenei slammed US President Donald Trump’s push to negotiate an end to Iran’s atomic program, vowing Iran would never abandon its uranium enrichment efforts.

“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program,” Khamenei said of the Trump administration.

“Who are you to tell us whether we can have a nuclear program or not? We will not give up the ability to enrich uranium.”

The American proposal, Khamenei continued, is “100% against the idea of ‘We Can,’” an Iranian government slogan.

“If we had 100 nuclear power plants without enrichment, they would not be usable for us,” Khamenei said.

The US has demanded that Iran agree to zero uranium enrichment, though behind the scenes, the Trump administration has reportedly floated a plan under which an independent atomic consortium could be created to enrich uranium for civilian purposes in plants in Iran and neighboring countries.

According to a report by US news website Axios, Washington has also offered to permit Iran to enrich uranium up to 3% for some period of time during an interim agreement, despite public statements by administration officials insisting on zero enrichment.

“The arrogant US leaders keep repeating this demand in various ways. They oppose Iran’s progress,” Khamenei said.