Iran foreign minister vows nuclear enrichment continues with or without US deal

Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday that regardless of whether a nuclear deal is reached with the U.S., enrichment will continue.

Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi addressed negotiations between Iran and the U.S. in a post on X regarding Iran’s “peaceful nuclear program.”

In the statement, Araghchi pointed out that U.S. officials privy to the discussions are free to state whatever they want to ward off special interest groups or malign actors that set the agendas of previous administrations.

“Iran can only control what we Iranians do, and that is to avoid negotiating in public—particularly given the current dissonance we are seeing between what our U.S. interlocutors say in public and in private, and from one week to the other,” Araghchi said. “Our stance on Iran’s rights as a [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] member is crystal clear, and there is no scenario in which Iranians will permit deviance from that. 

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“Mastering enrichment technology is a hard-earned and homegrown scientific achievement; an outcome of great sacrifice of both blood and treasure,” he continued. “If the U.S. is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome. Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal.”

The statement comes just days after President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. had given Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal.

While making the announcement, Trump said Iranian officials know they have to move quickly or “something bad is going to happen.”

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U.S. and Iranian officials have held four rounds of talks, primarily in Oman, since Trump took office to address Tehran’s nuclear program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, often referred to as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, noted in a March report that Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium had alarmingly grown from 182 kg to 275 kg, approximately 401 pounds to 606 pounds, in early 2025.

“Once you’re at 60, you’re 90% of the way there. You are, in essence, a threshold nuclear weapons state, which is what Iran basically has become,” Rubio said Thursday on “Hannity”.

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“They are at the threshold of a nuclear weapon. If they decided to do so, they could do so very quickly. If they stockpile enough of that 60% enriched, they could very quickly turn it into 90 and weaponize it. That’s the danger we face right now. That’s the urgency here,” he said.

The president also said Thursday in the United Arab Emirates that the U.S. and Iran have “sort of” agreed to terms on a nuclear deal.

“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms. They’re not going to make — I call it, in a friendly way — nuclear dust,” Trump told reporters. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Ashley Carnahan and Christina Shaw contributed to this report.