Steve Witkoff, the US envoy to talks with Iran, said in an interview with ABC on Sunday that Donald Trump has sent Tehran all the signals necessary to resolve the dispute through dialogue, “but on the other hand, we have a very, very clear red line and that is enrichment. We cannot accept even one percent of the enrichment capacity.”
However, Trump’s special envoy added, “We have made an offer to the Iranians that we think covers some of these issues without being disrespectful to them.”
In another part of his new remarks, Witkoff emphasized that “enrichment paves the way for weapons” and “everything starts with an agreement that does not include enrichment,” adding, “There are many ways that we can achieve our goals in these negotiations.”
An hour later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posed a message on the X-Channel, declaring his commitment to “avoiding public negotiations,” accusing the American parties of “inconsistencies between public and private statements and weekly changes in their positions.”
He said, “Wittkoff is completely far from the realities of negotiations and enrichment in Iran will continue.”
He stressed that Iran would continue enriching uranium “with or without an agreement.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister also added that the if Americans are interested in ensuring that nuclear weapons would not be produced, we are ready for this, but if they have unrealistic demands, it is natural that they will not be met.”
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Peshkerian said that Iran would not give up its “peaceful” nuclear program “under any circumstances.”
Masoud Pezzekian said: “They should accept our rights, the rights of every country should be accepted according to international treaties. According to the NPT, we have the right to use peaceful nuclear research.”
The Iranian president emphasized that “force” and “sanctions” cannot disrupt the path of Iran’s nuclear program. He stated: “I will not accept force. We will not give up the peaceful nuclear issue in any way, and we will not back down, no matter what they do. They want to sanction us, we have been under sanctions for a lifetime.”
American officials, especially after the third round of negotiations, claimed that Iran, as the only non-nuclear-weapon state in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), does not have the right to enrich uranium and that if it wants to use nuclear energy, it can import the fuel needed for its reactors from a third country.
A review of his views shows that he has changed his positions many times. During the negotiations with Iran, Witkoff once supported Iran's right to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent and just considered high level-enrichment to be problematic.
However, in another position, he immediately stated that Iran should not enrich uranium and that it should supply enriched uranium from abroad.
Reacting to these statements, Iran announced that the criteria is what are discussed at the negotiating table and not the positions stated in the media by American officials.
Witkoff's recent statements were made in a situation where the United States announced that it had provided a written text to Iran. This is the first time that the United States has provided a written proposal to Iran during the negotiations.
Iran's foreign Minister Araqchi said on Sunday, May 18, that the latest status of negotiations with the United States was reviewed in his meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaid, and Tehran had not received “any written message” from the United States regarding the nuclear talks.
However, Witkoff’s recent stance is not merely a verbal one that could change at the negotiating table. This stance was stated after the written text of the United States was sent – regardless of whether it reached Iran or not .
Previous evidence and experinces indicate that this may not be the final position of the US government because such a position can result in failure of the talks.
Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, has said in this regard: “Our position on enrichment is clear and we have repeatedly stated that enrichment is a national achievement for us. We will not back down on the issue of enrichment and zero enrichment, we have said from the beginning that if this is their position, it is natural that it will not actually get anywhere.”
Today’s remarks by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Revolution, have also made the task clear, according to the Iranian Foreign Minister. At a ceremony commemorating martyr Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and the “Martyrs of Service” at Imam Khomeini’s Husseiniyeh, the Leader emphasized:
"The issue of [nuclear] negotiations was brought up. I have a notice for the other side," he said, adding that the American side, which engages in these indirect talks, should avoid making nonsense remarks.
"Saying things like 'We will not allow Iran to enrich uranium' is nonsense. No one [in Iran] is waiting for others' permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and methods and will pursue them [independently]," he emphasized.
"At another appropriate time, I will explain to the Iranian people why the Americans and their Western allies insist so strongly on stopping uranium enrichment in Iran. I will make it clear what their real intentions are."
Iran has explicitly stated that the right to indigenous enrichment must be preserved and that even a temporary halt to enrichment will not be acceptable. Although the discussion of a uranium enrichment consortium has also been raised by the other side, Iran has stated that the principle of enrichment must be at its disposal.
Obviously, any form of consortium that does not meet this principle will question Iran's control over enrichment.
