Iran Says Its Right to Uranium Enrichment Is Non-Negotiable 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Its Right to Uranium Enrichment Is Non-Negotiable 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran's right to enrich uranium is not negotiable, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday, ahead of a second round of talks in Oman this weekend with the United States about Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Araqchi was responding to a comment made on Tuesday by the US top negotiator Steve Witkoff, who said Tehran must "stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment" to reach a deal with Washington.

"We have heard contradictory statements from Witkoff, but real positions will be made clear at the negotiating table," Araqchi said.

"We are ready to build trust regarding possible concerns over Iran's enrichment (of uranium), but the principle of enrichment is not negotiable."

Iran and the US are due to hold a second round of talks in Oman on Saturday over Tehran's escalating nuclear program, with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Before the talks, Araqchi will deliver a message from Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin on a trip to Russia, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to comment when asked if Russia was ready to take control of Iran's stocks of enriched uranium as part of a possible future nuclear deal between Iran and the United States.

The Guardian reported that Tehran was expected to reject a US proposal to transfer its stockpile of enriched uranium to a third country such as Russia as part of an agreement that Washington is seeking to scale back Iran's nuclear program.



Pope Leo Appeals for Israel to Allow Humanitarian Aid in Gaza 

Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd at the end of his first weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in The Vatican on May 21, 2025. (AFP)
Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd at the end of his first weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in The Vatican on May 21, 2025. (AFP)
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Pope Leo Appeals for Israel to Allow Humanitarian Aid in Gaza 

Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd at the end of his first weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in The Vatican on May 21, 2025. (AFP)
Pope Leo XIV blesses the crowd at the end of his first weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in The Vatican on May 21, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday appealed for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, calling the situation in the Palestinian enclave "yet more worrying and saddening".

"I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the devastating price of which is paid by children, the elderly and the sick," the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected the leader of the Catholic Church on May 8 to succeed the late Pope Francis. He has mentioned the situation in Gaza several times in the first weeks of his papacy.

In his first Sunday message on May 11, the new pope called for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israel said on Monday that it would allow aid to enter Gaza after an 11-week blockade on the enclave, but the United Nations said no help had been distributed as of Tuesday.

Leo's appeal comes a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government had paused free trade talks with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador to the UK over the situation in Gaza.

Israel says it plans to intensify military operations against Hamas and to control the whole of Gaza, which has been devastated by an Israeli air and ground war since Hamas' cross-border attack on Israeli communities in October 2023.

Israel has said its blockade is aimed in part at preventing Palestinian gunmen from diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied doing so.