Iran resists US demands for nuclear talks despite Trump warning

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WASHINGTON — Iran is unwilling to yield to American ultimatums on its nuclear and missile programs, a senior Iranian official said, despite President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of military action if a deal isn’t reached. 

“We do not want to enter into any kind of negotiation that is doomed to failure and can then be used as another pretext for another war,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

Tensions rose this week with the arrival of a US aircraft carrier, escorting warships and other military assets in the Middle East, all of which are meant to bolster the president’s options should he authorize strikes against Iran in retaliation for its violent crackdown on protesters. Trump ratcheted up the pressure on Wednesday, warning Iran on social media that if it did not negotiate with the United States, the consequence would be an attack “far worse” than the US bombing of its nuclear facilities last summer.

Washington has hardened its demands for a deal with Tehran since inflicting extensive damage to its Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan nuclear sites in June. US special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff recently said that, in addition to Iran halting its uranium enrichment and surrendering its stockpile of nuclear material, any deal must also address the country’s missile program and support for regional militias, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Iran has long said that its ability to enrich uranium is nonnegotiable, a view echoed by the senior Iranian official, who said his government would “welcome negotiations that ensure Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear activity” under a 1970 international treaty on nuclear nonproliferation. 

However, Iran had been enriching uranium to 60% purity before the June strikes — just a technical step from weapons-grade 90% — accumulating enough material for roughly nine nuclear bombs, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The 2015 nuclear deal that Trump withdrew from in his first term restricted Iran from enriching uranium past 3.67%, a purity level suitable for civilian use. 

Iran has not allowed inspectors from the IAEA back into the damaged sites to assess what remains of its prewar stockpile of 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Also worrisome are indications that Iran has stepped up construction at Pickaxe Mountain, an underground site south of Natanz that analysts say could be used as a new uranium enrichment facility. 

The Iranian official told Al-Monitor his country will not “negotiate anything related to our conventional arms, including missiles. This is something we cannot risk.” 

Iran has been reconstituting its ballistic missile arsenal with assistance from China, despite the United Nations sanctions that were reimposed on its missile activity last year. The US Treasury Department has sanctioned multiple China-based companies for helping Tehran procure the chemical components used to manufacture missile fuel.  

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a Senate hearing Wednesday that tens of thousands of American troops in the region were “within the reach of Iranian one-way drones and ballistic missiles.” Despite Israel's targeting of Iran's missile inventory and launchers, Israeli officials believe Iran now possesses around 2,000 heavy ballistic missiles — about the same number it had on the eve of the war.

Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said the Iranians are unwilling to consider making any concessions to their prized missile program but have signaled through intermediaries that they would consider committing to a suspension of uranium enrichment. 

Considering enrichment was virtually halted by the June strikes, that offer is unlikely to satisfy the Trump administration. 

“I don't see any reason the Trump administration would now soften its red lines,” said Vaez. “It believes that it has married stifling economic pressure now with a credible threat of use of force, and it's probably hoping that this would now coerce the Iranians into submission.” 

Iran vowed a “decisive” response to any US attack, while allied militias, including Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Yemen’s Houthis, have signaled they would join the fight. The Iranian official said his country has “no option but to ensure that everything at its disposal can be used to push back.”