Iran’s nuclear chief says atomic industry is non-negotiable

Iran’s nuclear chief said that the country’s nuclear industry will not be subject to any form of negotiation or compromise, describing it as a pillar of national power.

“The nuclear industry is a point of wealth and strength for the Iranian nation and is not subject to bargaining or negotiation,” Mohammad Eslami said speaking at an event in Karaj, near Tehran, on Tuesday.

“We have paid a heavy price to achieve nuclear knowledge, and nuclear technology is the key to progress in all fields of science and engineering,” he added.

Eslami’s remarks come as Iran and the United States concluded a fourth round of indirect nuclear negotiations in Oman on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump has said that the goal of the negotiations is to achieve "full dismantlement" of Tehran's nuclear program.

Tensions have mounted in recent days following comments by US envoy Steven Witkoff, who told Breitbart News last week that Washington's red line remains “no enrichment,” effectively calling for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.

Earlier on Tuesday, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Tehran will not give up uranium enrichment under any potential agreement with the United States, stressing that enrichment levels of up to 20% — or at least 5% — will be maintained on Iranian soil.

Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told local media that the outlook for ongoing negotiations with Washington is positive, but insisted Iran will not concede to US demands.

“America ultimately has to accept our conditions,” he said.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi on Tuesday said that no specific details have been agreed regarding possible limits on uranium enrichment, after the latest round of talks in Muscat.

Iran has accelerated its enrichment activities since 2019, exceeding limits set under the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US exited unilaterally in 2018.

The UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed Iran’s enrichment of uranium to levels approaching weapons-grade, a move Tehran says is reversible if sanctions are lifted and credible guarantees are provided.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said that Iran may consider temporary limits on enrichment “in terms of scope, level, and quantity” as a confidence-building measure, but also emphasized that the principle of enrichment itself is non-negotiable.

Amid the standoff, some Iranian commentators are reviving a long-standing proposal to break the impasse by forming a regional nuclear consortium that would include Iran, Arab states and the United States.

In February, the UN nuclear watchdog found that Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium had risen to levels that, in principle, could be further enriched to produce enough material for six nuclear bombs.