IAEA chief says inspectors on way to Iran in case nuclear deal with E3 struck

"Of course, countries that want to produce nuclear weapons enrich up to 90 percent purity," Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday.

"Since we have no need for weapons and have decided against nuclear arms, we have not taken it that far; we have raised it to 60 percent, which is a very high level, a very good figure, and necessary for some of the domestic needs in our country."

Israel and the United States accused Iran of racing toward a bomb when they launched surprise attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in June - a campaign which ended two months of US-Iranian talks over Tehran's disputed activities.

The official US intelligence assessment in the run-up to the war was that Iran's leadership had not decided to pursue a weapon.

"The other side has threatened to bomb Iran if we do not negotiate," Khamenei added. "Accepting such negotiations would signal the Islamic Republic’s susceptibility to threats, and if it happens, there will be no end: first they demand the nuclear program, then the missiles, and then they move on to every issue."

"Iran lacked the technology to enrich uranium, and our enemies did not want us to have it. Our scientists managed to achieve the know-how," he added.

He said enriched uranium is very valuable for Iran as it has applications in various aspects of people's lives.

"People benefit from enriched uranium in agriculture, industry, nutrition, environment, education and research, power generation, and many other areas."

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday doubled down on a key sticking point in a diplomatic standoff with the United States, insisting again that Iran would not renounce domestic enrichment of uranium.

"Negotiating with the United States under the current conditions carries harms for Iran, some of which are irreparable, because the American side has predetermined the outcome of the negotiations, meaning they have stated they will only accept talks whose result is the shutdown of Iran’s nuclear activities and enrichment," he said.

"This is not negotiation, this is dictation," Khamenei declared in a speech hours after Trump had belittled him in a speech before the United Nations as Iran's "so-called" Supreme Leader.

Khamenei blasted Trump for calling on Iran to end domestic enrichment, saying, “it is clear that the Iranian people give a slap in the face to the person saying this and will not accept it.”

“We are very close to implementing sanctions against Iran,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was quoted as saying in an interview with Al Arabiya on Tuesday, warning that Tehran was “heading down a very bad path.”

He added that Iran had failed to take advantage of opportunities to reach a nuclear agreement, but “the door to negotiations remains open to Iran even after sanctions are imposed.”

Tehran does not need and seek to develop nuclear weapons, so it enriches uranium to up to 60% purity, unlike nuclear-armed countries that enrich it up to 90% purity, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a speech on Tuesday.

"Iran lacked the technology to enrich uranium, and our enemies did not want us to have it. Our scientists managed to achieve the know-how," he added.

He said enriched uranium is very valuable for Iran as it has applications in various aspects of people's lives.

"People benefit from enriched uranium in agriculture, industry, nutrition, environment, education and research, power generation, and many other areas."

"There was nothing in the E3/EU-Araghchi meeting today that made Snapback less likely," Wall Street Journal correspondent Laurence Norman reported citing unnamed sources.