Iran will not temporarily suspend enrichment to secure nuclear deal with US

DUBAI: Iran will not accept temporarily suspending uranium enrichment to secure a nuclear deal with U.S., a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding no date had yet been set for a sixth round of talks with Washington.

Further President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran will survive even if there are no talks with the United States and more sanctions are applied. This was according to state media, after US President Donald Trump said weekend negotiations with Tehran were “very good”.

US and Iran resume nuclear talks amid clashing demands

“It’s not like we will die of hunger if they refuse to negotiate with us or impose sanctions. We will find a way to survive,” Pezeshkian said, referring to the talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Both Washington and Tehran have taken a tough stance in public over Iran’s intensifying uranium enrichment programme, which could potentially give it scope to build a nuclear warhead, even though Tehran says it has no such ambitions and the purposes are purely civilian.

Iran insists the talks are indirect, but US officials have said the discussions – including the round on May 11 in Oman – have been both “direct and indirect”.

Ahead of the talks, Araqchi wrote on X: “…Zero nuclear weapons = we Do have a deal. Zero enrichment = we do NOT have a deal. Time to decide.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that Trump believes negotiations with Iran are “moving in the right direction”.

Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to settle the impasse.