Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei lashed out at the Trump administration in a defiant Wednesday speech, calling the U.S. nuclear deal proposal "nonsense" and taking aim at "the rude and arrogant leaders of America."
Iran, Khamenei said, will not accept any nuclear deal that limits its ability to enrich uranium. President Donald Trump, he added, "can not do a damns [sic] thing is this matter."
"The U.S.'s first word is that Iran should not have a nuclear industry," Khamenei said in an address marking the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ruhollah Khomeini. "Our response to America's nonsense claims is clear: they can not do a damns [sic] thing in this matter."
"The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program," he continued. "They cannot do anything about this."
The remarks threaten to further derail already fragile diplomatic talks surrounding Tehran’s contested nuclear weapons program.
Though Trump and some members of his administration have repeatedly declared that Iran would not be able to enrich uranium in any form under a deal, recent reporting from Axios and the New York Times suggested that a deal could allow the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium at low levels while the United States facilitated the construction of new enrichment facilities managed by third parties. Iran hawks in Congress would almost certainly see such a deal as a concession—but Khamenei condemned the proposal as a nonstarter during his speech, calling it "useless" for Iran to build nuclear plants only to lose the ability to enrich uranium on its own in the long term.
"The nuclear industry is a parent industry. Many scientific fields are affected by the nuclear industry," Khamenei said. "Uranium enrichment is the key to the nuclear issue, and the enemies have focused on enrichment."
In subsequent X posts, Khamenei said he will not permit any negotiations around Iran’s enrichment capabilities.
"To the American side and others we say: Why are you interfering and trying to say whether Iran should have uranium enrichment or not? That’s none of your business," he wrote. "The U.S.’s proposal is 100% against the spirit of ‘We can.’ What the U.S. is demanding is that you should have no nuclear industry at all and be dependent on them," he added.
Iranian foreign minister Seyed Araghchi, one of the country’s top interlocutors, quickly backed Khamenei’s stance.
"No enrichment, no deal," Araghchi tweeted. "Apart from significant financial resources and political vision, it requires a solid industrial base and a technological-academic complex that can produce necessary human resources and know-how. Iran has paid dearly for these capabilities, and there is no scenario in which we will give up on the patriots who made our dream come true."
On Tuesday, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian adopted the same position, indicating that Tehran’s senior leadership is aligned in opposing the reported U.S. proposal.
"We will not compromise on our nuclear rights by any means; let them dream about it," Pezeshkian said. The United States "tells us that you have no right to enrich uranium, but no freedom-seeking person will accept bullying."
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to Iran’s hardline approach, though a sixth diplomatic session is tentatively scheduled to take place this weekend.
"Continuing enrichment on Iranian soil is our red line. This is a reality that all countries have accepted. Enrichment has now become a matter of national pride and honor for Iranians," foreign minister Araghchi said on Tuesday.