Iran signals rejection of US nuclear deal proposal

“Three members of the national team committed inappropriate behavior on the sidelines of the Asian Championships,” the statement said, adding that the matter is under review and disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with regulations.

South Korean police said on Saturday that two Iranian athletes and a coach were arrested in the city of Gumi after a local woman, 20, alleged she had been sexually assaulted at a hotel, where the Iranian delegation was staying.

Iranian newspaper Khabar Varzeshi on Monday published a detailed account of the alleged group sexual assault.

Citing an eyewitness, Khabar Varzeshi reported that around 6 a.m., a 20-year-old Korean woman arrived at the hotel with an Iranian athlete referred to as K, after meeting him at a bar. A second athlete, R, later joined them in the room, followed by a third, M, whose presence prompted the woman to object.

The woman, the report said, entered the bathroom and discreetly sent her location to police. Authorities arrived shortly after and, based on her complaint of group sexual assault, arrested the three.

According to Khabar Varzeshi, the accused claim the first two encounters were consensual and only the third was forced. Police, however, reportedly dismissed this distinction and detained all three men.

The hotel remains under heightened security despite the arrests, the paper added.

Iran’s Ministry of Sports pledged to address the issue, with a senior official, Shervin Asbaghian, saying that serious action would be taken against anyone found responsible.

“We have no tolerance for violations of ethical conduct,” he told Iran’s state news agency IRNA, while calling for a full investigation once the delegation returns to Iran.

It is the latest scandal to rock the sport. Federation president Ehsan Hadadi, who was one of several senior officials on the delegation, has been at the center of allegations of corruption In recent months.

Athletes and coaches have held protest gatherings outside the Ministry of Sports building in Tehran, calling for his resignation, citing concerns over alleged misconduct and mismanagement.

South Korean authorities have not yet confirmed whether formal charges will be filed, and the investigation remains ongoing.

“It must be clear to us how the oppressive sanctions against the Iranian people will be lifted, to ensure that past experiences are not repeated,” Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters in Tehran.

"I regret to inform you that the American side has not yet been willing to clarify this issue," Baghaei said at his weekly press.

The White House ordered a freeze on new sanctions activity on Iran last week, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, pausing President Donald Trump’s so-called maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi visited Tehran on Saturday to deliver what Iran described as "elements of a US proposal" related to a possible nuclear agreement.

Muscat has been mediating between Iran and the United States as the two countries seek a breakthrough following five rounds of indirect talks last held in Rome this month.

US proposal under review

Baghaei emphasized that receiving a written text from the US did not signal any agreement on Iran's part.

"Certainly, receiving a text does not mean it is accepted, nor even that it is acceptable," he said. "Exchange of documents is a common practice in all negotiation processes."

Any proposal, Baghaei added, containing “radical and maximalist demands” which ignores what he called the legitimate rights and interests of the Iranian people would not receive a positive response from Tehran.

“The red lines of Iran will be the basis for our response to the American proposal,” he said, underlining the centrality of Iran’s uranium enrichment program and the demand for effective lifting of sanctions.

Iran accuses IAEA of bias

Baghaei also addressed the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it was prepared under pressure from certain Western countries.

“The report contains mostly repetitive content, and some technical matters have been exaggerated,” he said. “We are certain that this report was prepared under pressure from specific countries.”

Documents seen by the IAEA showed that Iran carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the UN nuclear watchdog at three locations which have long been under investigation, Reuters reported last week.

Baghaei criticized what he described as a long-standing pattern of Western states using international organizations for political purposes. “Unfortunately, this has become an undesirable trend over the past two decades,” he added.

He said that Iran’s nuclear activities remain under full monitoring by the agency and warned against misrepresenting internal procedural issues—such as revoking the accreditation of a few inspectors—while ignoring the continued presence of 125 active inspectors in the country.

Israel using nuclear issue to sway US policy, Iran says

Responding to longstanding allegations that Iran seeks to develop nuclear weapons, Baghaei argued that such claims have been used politically by Israel to influence US foreign policy.

“If you review the reports on Iran’s nuclear issue, you will see that since 1984, officials from the Zionist regime have claimed that Iran would obtain a nuclear bomb within six months,” he said. “It’s been nearly 40 years. The peaceful nature of our nuclear program has been consistently proven.”

He added, “Israel’s concern is not about a nuclear Iran, but about losing its ability to impose its will in the region and control US foreign policy.”

No clarity from US yet

Baghaei said that Iran’s key demand remains the complete and verifiable removal of economic sanctions.

“In the nuclear field, the matter is clear to us. If America’s concern is the absence of nuclear weapons, that issue is already resolved,” he said. “What matters is ensuring the real and observable end of the sanctions imposed over the past decades.”

He explained that Iran seeks to see practical outcomes, including improvements in banking, trade, and economic relations.

Iran will respond to any new sanctions

The Iranian spokesman also took issue with recent proposals by some US lawmakers to make certain sanctions permanent.

“This is a clear contradiction in the US approach,” Baghaei said. “On one hand, they claim to support diplomacy, but on the other, they reinforce the very obstacles that prevent any understanding.”

He said Iran regards any new sanctions as “a sign of the lack of seriousness and real intent on the part of the United States to advance diplomatic efforts.”

On the potential activation of the “snapback” mechanism—formally known as the dispute resolution process under the 2015 nuclear deal—Baghaei warned, “We have anticipated multiple scenarios. If such a mechanism is triggered by European signatories, we will respond in kind and appropriately.”

Consortium cannot replace enrichment inside Iran

Baghaei also said that any proposal to replace Iran's domestic uranium enrichment with a multinational consortium is unacceptable.

“This idea is not new, and it’s not surprising that negotiating parties continue to raise it. But the consortium proposal can in no way replace enrichment on Iranian soil.”

Baghaei added that while Iran is willing to participate in such initiatives, it would not consider any arrangement that undermines what Tehran sees as its sovereign right under international law.

Iran remains under global sanctions not only for its nuclear program but also over its human rights record at home, and supporting Russia's war on Ukraine. The situation has left Iran's economy in its worst state since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, spoke with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Sunday evening, according to an official Egyptian readout.

Abdelatty expressed Cairo’s support for the talks, saying, “The US-Iranian talks represent a critical opportunity to achieve calm and de-escalation in the region and prevent its slide into total chaos.”

Araghchi arrived in Cairo on Sunday for talks with senior Egyptian officials focusing on bilateral relations.

On Monday, Araghchi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that during Araghchi’s visit to Egypt, the foreign minister may discuss ongoing indirect negotiations with the United States.

Responding to reports of a planned meeting between Araghchi and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in Egypt, Baghaei said the meeting “cannot be confirmed.”

According to the report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued the order last week, halting measures that had been part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing "maximum pressure" campaign.

The directive was passed to senior officials at the National Security Council, the Treasury Department, and the State Department, the report said.

While the White House did not deny the sanctions pause, deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to the Journal: “Any new decisions with regard to sanctions will be announced by the White House or relevant agencies within the administration.”

The report said that Trump officials view the move as a temporary slowdown aimed at reviewing potential sanctions more carefully amid sensitive nuclear negotiations, and that it was overinterpreted somewhere along the chain.

Others expressed concern that key policymakers have been out of the loop and surprised by the sweeping pause.

Abolfazl Zohrehvand, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said the 2003 agreement, which led to the Tehran Declaration, was a "strategic mistake" that should not be repeated.

In October 2003, Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and permit enhanced inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to demonstrate the peaceful nature of its nuclear program and avoid referral to the United Nations Security Council.

The agreement was signed by Iran's then-Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rouhani, along with the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany at Tehran's Saadabad Palace. It temporarily averted escalation of the nuclear dispute.

However, following the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, Iran resumed uranium conversion activities at the Isfahan facility in August 2005 and enrichment at the Natanz facility in early 2006. By April 2006, Iran announced it had successfully enriched uranium to a purity level of approximately 3.5%, marking a significant advancement in its nuclear capabilities.

Zohrehvand said in an interview with Didban Iran that Tehran agreed in 2003 to suspend enrichment, signed the Saadabad agreement, and fulfilled its commitments by sealing the Natanz enrichment facility and the yellowcake production facility in Isfahan.

However, despite several rounds of negotiations, Iran’s request for reciprocal measures from the West went unmet, he added.

He said during that period, President Mohammad Khatami had tried to formally transfer a centrifuge to Tehran University to demonstrate Iran’s mastery of centrifuge technology. However, he said, then-Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi contacted British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to coordinate the move, only to be told it was not permitted and that all centrifuges had to be dismantled.

Zohrehvand also noted that following a visit to Tehran, the German foreign minister went directly to Israel and announced, “We told the Iranians to dismantle their enrichment program entirely.”

According to Zohrehvand, today’s Western demands echo the same expectations as those of two decades ago.

“This same model is being repeated again,” he warned.

Zohrehvand said while a temporary suspension of enrichment in return for sanctions relief might now be acceptable, it would be naïve to believe that the United States would be satisfied with such a deal.

“If resolving the issue merely means suspending or halting enrichment, it could happen—there’s no problem with suspending enrichment for a few years in exchange for the suspension or lifting of sanctions,” Zohrehvand said.

“But believing that the Americans would be content with that is simplistic.”