US Nuclear Demands Are Nonsense, Talks May Not Succeed: Iran’s Khamenei

<p>Iran&rsquo;s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has criticised US demands for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment, calling it “excessive and outrageous,” according to state media, and expressed skepticism about the potential success of ongoing nuclear negotiations.</p>
<p>”I don’t think nuclear talks with the US will bring results. I don’t know what will happen,” Khamenei told news agency Reuters, adding that Washington should not make “nonsense” demands in the negotiations, four rounds of which have been held.</p>
<p>The Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated on Tuesday that “A date has been suggested but we have not yet accepted it.” He said when questioned about a fifth round of talks, which an Iranian official confirmed on Monday, that it might be held this weekend in Rome.</p>
<p>”We are witnessing positions on the US side that do not go along with any logic and are creating problems for the negotiations. That’s why we have not determined the next round of talks, we are reviewing the matter and hope logic will prevail,” Araqchi added.</p>
<p>Negotiations over a new nuclear agreement are faltering as tensions rise between Iran and the US over uranium enrichment.</p>
<h2>US Views Enrichment As A Potential Route To Developing Nuclear Weapons</h2>
<p>Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi warned on Monday that the talks would collapse if Washington continued to demand that Tehran halt domestic uranium enrichment. The US views enrichment as a potential route to developing nuclear weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful energy purposes.</p>
<p>Last week, US President Donald Trump issued a warning, stating that Iran must &ldquo;act quickly or face serious consequences,&rdquo; referencing a proposed deal. However, Iran claims it has not received any formal written offer from the US.</p>
<p>Trump has continuously warned Iran that it would face severe sanctions if it did not make a compromise to resolve its long-disputed nuclear energy programme. Amid his term as president during the 2017-21 term, he withdrew the United States from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that put stringent limits on the enrichment program of Tehran in exchange for relief from international sanctions.</p>
<p>Calling the 2015 deal overly favorable to Iran, Trump reinstated broad US sanctions, prompting Tehran to resume and expand its uranium enrichment in response.</p>
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