Iran defies US threats to insist on right to enrich uranium
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country does not tolerate the language of force.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Feb 8 ruled out Tehran ever giving up uranium enrichment in its negotiations with Washington
Mr Araghchi told a forum in Tehran attended by AFP that his country had little trust in Washington and even doubted that the US side was taking the renewed negotiations seriously.
“Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up, even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behaviour,” he said.
“Their military deployment in the region does not scare us,” he added, referring to the arrival of an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, in the Arabian Sea.
The US and Iran reopened negotiations on Feb 6 in Oman for the first time since Israel’s 12-day war with the Islamic republic in June 2025.
Iran is seeking the lifting of US economic sanctions in exchange for what Mr Araghchi described at the forum as “a series of confidence-building measures concerning the nuclear programme”.
Western countries and Israel, thought to be the Middle East’s only country with nuclear weapons, say Iran is seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb, a claim the Islamic republic denies.
“They fear our atomic bomb, while we are not looking for one. Our atomic bomb is the power to say ‘no’ to the great powers,” the minister said.
‘Peace through strength’
Mr Araghchi’s comments came after US lead negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the aircraft carrier on Feb 7, signalling the persistent threat of US military action against Iran.
The US military’s Central Command said the two top officials visited the nuclear-powered vessel.
In a social media post, Mr Witkoff said that the aircraft carrier and its strike group were “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength”.
The threat of war continues to hover over the negotiations, even as Mr Donald Trump called the talks “very good” and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media that they “constitute a step forward”.
Following the first round of talks in Oman on Feb 6, Mr Trump signed an executive order calling for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries still doing business with Iran despite US sanctions.
The US also announced new sanctions against numerous shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.
At the Tehran forum on Feb 8, Mr Araghchi called into question Washington’s commitment to negotiations. “The continuation of certain sanctions and military actions raise doubts about the seriousness and readiness of the other side to conduct genuine negotiations,” he said.
“We are monitoring the situation closely, assessing all the signals and will decide on the continuation of the negotiations.”
Protests toll
Talks between the two archenemies came amid a major US military build-up in the region, in the wake of Iran’s crackdown on protests that began in late December 2025 and were driven by economic grievances
The authorities in Iran have acknowledged that 3,117 people were killed in the recent protests, publishing on Feb 8 a list of 2,986 names, most of whom they say were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders.
International organisations have put the death toll far higher.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been tracking casualties since the onset of the protests, says it has verified 6,961 deaths, mainly of protesters, and has another 11,630 cases under investigation.
It has also counted more than 51,000 arrests. AFP
