Calling for zero enrichment will collapse nuclear talks, Iran’s deputy FM says

“The three islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa are an inseparable part of the territory of Iran,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a statement on Monday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers any claim in this regard to be contrary to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law—namely, respect for the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of countries, as well as the principle of good neighbourliness.”

His remarks came in response to the Baghdad Declaration issued at the conclusion of the 34th Arab League Summit, a gathering of Arab heads of state held Saturday in Iraq’s capital.

The statement repeated the Arab League's support, first announced last year, for the UAE’s sovereignty over the three islands administered by Iran since 1971.

The three Persian Gulf islands have historically been part of Iran, as supported by historical and geographical documents.

However, the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly laid claim to the territory, describing the situation as “the continued occupation by the Islamic Republic of Iran", and an issue which has now become a sticking point in the relationship between the two countries.

The Arab League called on Iran to resolve the dispute either through direct negotiations or by referring the matter to the International Court of Justice.

Baghaei said raising the issue in the final communiqué of the Arab League summit was unacceptable and urged the organisation to “refrain from addressing baseless claims.”

In the absence of the British ambassador, the UK diplomat was summoned by Shahram Ghazizadeh, director of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Western Europe Department, who conveyed Tehran's strong objections to both the arrests and what he described as unfounded accusations against the Islamic Republic.

Ghazizadeh demanded explanations from the UK government regarding the legal grounds for detaining the individuals, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

In two separate operations on May 3, eight men including seven Iranians were arrested by the British counter-terrorism police.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry official accused London of deliberately failing to notify the Iranian embassy in a timely manner and condemned what he described as Britain's refusal to provide evidence and its denial of consular access.

The Iranian official also warned that Britain would be held responsible for the consequences of actions that appeared politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Iran.

The UK police charged three of the Iranian detainees with offences under the National Security Act, alleging they acted on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service and carried out surveillance targeting Iran International journalists.

The men — Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 56 — were arrested at their homes in London on May 3 and charged on Friday.

All three are accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between August 14, 2024 and February 16, 2025, in breach of Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023. The foreign state involved is Iran, police said.

The five other detainees who had been arrested as part of a "pre-planned" investigation into a suspected plot to "attack a specific location" were later released from custody.

The five men included four Iranians arrested in different parts of the UK under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of preparing a terror attack. The men, aged between 29 and 46, were arrested in Swindon, west London, Stockport, and Rochdale.

The fifth man, aged 24 and arrested in Manchester under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, had previously been released on bail with conditions, pending a court date in May.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday expressed hope that "efforts and sincere intentions by Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq would help the negotiations with the United States reach a fair agreement that guarantees lasting peace and stability in the region."

The Iranian president made the remarks during a meeting with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi on the sidelines of the Tehran Dialogue Forum 2025.

Also in a meeting with Qatar’s foreign minister, Pezeshkian said: “Reaching an agreement with the US is achievable, but it depends on one essential condition — that the American side refrains from coercion and imposition."

"We will never yield to force under any circumstances.”

Earlier in the day, Pezeshkian said in his address to the forum that Iran is not scared of the American officials' threats to impose sanctions or even bomb Iran.

"What do they want to do—sanctions? We've been under sanctions all our lives. We are not afraid of death or martyrdom. They can't scare us with sanctions and bombs.”

Pezeshkian condemned Trump's remarks during his recent tour of the Middle East and said, “Trump claims we are the threat. Are we the threat, or those who talk about peace? Who is really the threat? Are we the ones bombing homes? Do we assassinate scientists? Did we assassinate Ismail Haniyeh?”

He referred to Trump’s comments on the need for America to ensure Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, saying: “Let them come and evaluate it themselves... Many in Iran wanted to pursue nuclear weapons, but the Leader stopped it. So we are not going to build a nuclear weapon—because that’s the Leader’s fatwa.”

President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East on Sunday said Washington will not accept any level of uranium enrichment in a potential agreement with Tehran.

“We cannot allow even one percent of an enrichment capability,” he told ABC News.

“Everything begins from our standpoint with a deal that does not include enrichment.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi swiftly rejected Witkoff’s remarks, calling them unrealistic and disconnected from the state of negotiations. “I think he is completely at a distance from the reality of the negotiations,” Araghchi told IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.

In a post on X, Araghchi stressed that uranium enrichment in Iran will not be halted under any scenario.

“If the US 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,” Araghchi posted on X. “Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal.”

He also accused the United States of inconsistency in its messaging. “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 US interlocutors say in public and in private, and from one week to the other."

Next round of US-Iran talks

Araghchi on Sunday said that a date for the next round of talks has been set and will be announced soon by Oman, which is acting as a mediator, but denied that Tehran had received any formal written proposal from the US.

Witkoff, for his part, said the US had already conveyed its position at the highest level. “(Trump) has directly sent letters to the supreme leader. I have been dispatched to deliver that message as well, and I've delivered it,” he said.

Witkoff said that the next round of negotiations may take place in Europe in the coming days.

“We think that we will be meeting sometime this week in Europe. And we hope that it will lead to some real positivity,” he said.

Iran and the United States have already held four rounds of talks in Muscat and Rome.

Trump said Thursday that the US was “very close” to securing a deal with Iran but warned on Friday that Tehran must act quickly. “They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad’s going to happen,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Tehran is ready for serious talks with the United States to ensure it will never pursue nuclear weapons, but stressed that uranium enrichment will not be halted under any circumstances.

“If the US 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,” Araghchi posted on X. “Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal.”