Iran says a US nuclear deal isn’t imminent and that its enrichment program must continue

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Senior Iranian officials on Thursday dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country’s nuclear program to continue.

“Iran is sincere about a diplomatic solution that will serve the interests of all sides. But getting there requires an agreement that will fully terminate all sanctions and uphold Iran’s nuclear rights—including enrichment,” Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, wrote in a post on the X.

Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on X that previous U.S. presidents also had “fantasies” destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, and warned that Iran has strong defenses and “clear red lines.”

“Talks serve progress, interests, and dignity, not coercion or surrender,” he said.

The comments came a day after President Donald Trump said he has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the U.S. administration more time to push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program, if a deal isn’t reached, while Iranian officials counter they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium.

Other Iranian hard-liners had harsher words for Trump.

“What Trump says about a deal with Iran to dismantle nuclear facilities is a combination of ‘illusion,’ ‘bluff,’ ‘delirium,’ and ’confusion,’” Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander in the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, said in a post on X.

The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, which have acrimonious ties for nearly a half-century.

The U.S. and Iran have held five rounds of talks in Oman and Rome over the past few weeks. Last Friday, the most recent round of talks, Omani mediator and Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said Iran and the United States made “ some but not conclusive progress ” and that more negotiations are needed.

Trump’s comments came as the head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said “the jury is still out” on negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency were in Tehran this week, and Iranian President President Masoud Pezeshkian was in Oman this week for a state visit,