US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)
Iranian FM Araghchi: “Unrealistic expectations halt negotiations; uranium enrichment in Iran is not something that can be stopped.”
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the US can’t allow Iran “even 1% uranium enrichment capability,” a statement that drew a sharp response from Iranian officials.
Witkoff was insistent on this condition, adding that uranium enrichment was a “red line” in any agreement between Washington and Tehran.
“We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability,” Witkoff told ABC‘s “This Week.”
“Everything begins… with a deal that does not include enrichment… because enrichment enables weaponization, and we will not allow a bomb to get here,” he explained.
This contrasts with earlier remarks Wiktoff and other US officials have made indicating that limited uranium enrichment would be permitted, but the Trump administration has since taken a more rigid stance.
“We’ve delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them,” Witkoff said. “We want to get to a solution here, and we think we will be able to.”
He added that he looks forward to another round of discussions in Europe, saying, “We hope that it will lead to some real positivity.”
However, Witkoff’s zero tolerance stance on enriching uranium elicited criticism from Iran.
“Unrealistic expectations halt negotiations; uranium enrichment in Iran is not something that can be stopped,” said Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, as reported by Iran’s Tasnim news service.
“I think he is completely at a distance from the reality of the negotiations,” Araghchi added.
Departing from the United Arab Emirates and completing his visit to Middle Eastern countries, Trump announced while boarding Air Force One that a nuclear agreement with Iran was imminent but that Iran had to “move quickly.”
“They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad is going to happen.”
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Araghchi said Iran had not received a proposal from the US.
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