Rubio says Iran seeks enrichment to become untouchable nuclear threshold state

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that Iran has been forced to "beg for talks" with the United States as a result of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign.

"In the Middle East, the administration’s maximum pressure campaign has secured the release of the last living American hostage held by Hamas, a pledge by the Houthis to abandon attacks on American ships, and forced Iran to beg for talks with the United States," Rubio said in prepared remarks submitted to the committee.

An Iranian lawmaker said on Tuesday that following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s remarks on Iran’s nuclear policy, parliamentarians have no independent position but must help explain and defend the leadership’s stance to the public.

“After the Supreme Leader’s statement, people like me have no standing of our own,” said Salar Velayatmadar, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission. “Our duty is to clarify his position and explain its dimensions to the people.”

Khamenei said earlier on Tuesday that indirect talks with the United States were unlikely to succeed and warned Washington against trying to dictate Iran’s nuclear program.

Velayatmadar said uranium enrichment was a high scientific achievement and a matter of national pride. “Uranium enrichment stands at the highest level of global scientific progress,” he said. “Only a handful of countries possess this technology, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of them.”

He added that any compromise over enrichment would harm Iran’s national dignity and undercut the work of Iranian scientists. “If we step back from this achievement, we undermine our future,” he said.

The lawmaker also rejected the idea of hosting a nuclear consortium outside Iran. “If such a consortium is formed, it must be on Iranian soil. The knowledge and the technology belong to us.”

Velayatmadar said the outcome of nuclear talks would depend on the sincerity of the other side. “We are ready for dialogue, but not at the cost of our rights. If the talks fail, the consequences will be theirs.”

The fate of negotiations between Iran and the US hinges on one unresolved issue: uranium enrichment. As a former Iranian diplomat told Rouydad24, despite early momentum in the talks, a single unresolved point may now unravel months of diplomacy—proving that “the devil is in the details.”

Former diplomat Qassem Mohebbali said enrichment has become more than a technical issue—it’s now a political and symbolic one.

“The core of the talks is uranium enrichment,” Mohebbali said. “Iran doesn’t even have a nuclear power plant needing large-scale enrichment, yet the issue has taken on enormous significance. It’s a matter of national pride.”

He outlined two possible compromise models: a deal similar to India’s with direct US oversight, or a heavily monitored approach like Japan’s. Without such a solution, he said, Iran must weigh whether enrichment is worth risking war.

“If Iran exits the talks, the snapback mechanism could be triggered, reviving UN sanctions and increasing the risk of military confrontation,” he said, arguing that even without war, escalating sanctions could push Iran’s economy beyond its limits.

“This is no longer a game of ‘no war, no peace,’” he said. “The choice now is between war and peace.”

“Iran is the head of the terrorist octopus that promotes terrorist activity directly and through the terrorist organizations it supports against leaders and against all citizens of the state of Israel,” Katz said in a statement Tuesday.

Two Israeli suspects, Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, both 25 and childhood friends, were arrested at the end of April accused of intelligence-gathering missions and placing explosives in the community where Katz lives.

Israel Police said in a statement on Tuesday: “The investigation revealed that during 2025, Roy was in contact with Iranian terrorist elements and carried out a large number of different security missions for them, some of them together with his friend Almog, while the two understood that they were acting under Iranian direction and that their actions were intended to harm the security of the state due to financial gain.”

The police statement said that Mizrahi was communicating with his handler through a dedicated application on a new cell phone he had bought for the operation.

“Later, he was asked by his handlers to move a bag buried in the ground from one point to another, which, according to his understanding, contained an explosive device. Roy carried out the transfer of the bag in accordance with his handlers' instructions,” the statement said.

Israel's Mako reported that after carrying out minor tasks such as photographing street signs, the pair’s activities included trying to install cameras at the minister’s home.

“The more serious task, which came after they successfully completed the first tasks, was purchasing a camera with a SIM card that allows for remote control, and installing it outside the defense minister's home,” the report said.

“First, they installed the cameras throughout Haifa and Nesher and gave the Iranians a code with which they could remotely control the cameras. Another time, they arrived at the driveway outside Minister Katz's house to install the camera - then they saw a Shin Bet vehicle and fled the scene," Mako added.

The case is the latest in a string of plots foiled since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, with dozens of Israelis allegedly hired by Iranian operatives to carry out operations targeting the country’s top political and military echelons.

Other targets have included the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, Ronen Bar.

In the coming days, the Central District Attorney's Office is expected to file a serious indictment against the two suspects.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday that Italy is willing to host future nuclear talks involving Iran and the United States.

In a post on X, Tajani said he spoke by phone with Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to receive an update on the negotiations.

“We are closely following developments in the US-Iran talks and are convinced that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program must be resolved through dialogue,” he wrote, stressing Italy’s “full support” for the IAEA’s work.

Tajani said he had confirmed Italy’s “availability to once again host future talks in Rome.”