Trump Rules Out Allowing Iran to Enrich Uranium in Any Nuke Deal

US President Donald Trump on June 2 ruled out allowing Iran to enrich uranium under any nuclear deal between the foes — as Tehran defended what it said was its "peaceful" pursuit of fuel for power generation.

- 

WASHINGTON —

Uranium enrichment has remained a key point of contention in five rounds of talks since April to ink a new accord to replace the deal with major powers that Mr. Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.

"Under our potential agreement — we will not allow any enrichment of uranium!" Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social network after the Axios news outlet reported that Washington's offer would let Tehran enrich some of the nuclear fuel.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, also blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for the impasse, saying the Democrat "should have stopped Iran a long time ago from 'enriching'."

Axios said the latest proposal that Washington had sent Tehran on May 31 would allow limited low-level uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, for an amount of time that has yet to be determined.

Iran has insisted that it has "nothing to hide" in its nuclear programme.

Speaking in Cairo, where he met the UN nuclear watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: "If the goal is to deprive Iran of its peaceful activities, then certainly no agreement will be reached."