Iran Rejects Temporary Halt on Uranium Enrichment to Secure US Nuclear Deal 

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Tehran Research Reactor in Iran on April 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Tehran Research Reactor in Iran on April 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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Iran Rejects Temporary Halt on Uranium Enrichment to Secure US Nuclear Deal 

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Tehran Research Reactor in Iran on April 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Tehran Research Reactor in Iran on April 22, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Iran will not consider temporarily suspending uranium enrichment to secure a nuclear deal with the US, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding that no date had yet been set for a sixth round of talks with Washington.

The negotiations between Washington and Tehran aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and both sides have taken a tough stance in public over the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment.

Asked about reports that Iran could freeze enrichment for three years to reach an agreement, spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a press conference: "Iran will never accept that."

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US negotiators had "very good" talks with an Iranian delegation over the weekend.

Iran is waiting for further details from mediator Oman regarding the timing of the next round of talks, Baghaei said.

"If there is goodwill from the American side, we are also optimistic, but if talks are aimed at curbing Iran's rights, then talks will get nowhere," he added.

The stakes are high for both sides.

Trump wants to curtail Tehran's potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel.

Iran, for its part, maintains its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian purposes and wants to be rid of devastating sanctions on its oil-based economy.



Zelenskiy Thanks Trump for Readiness to Support Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Thanks Trump for Readiness to Support Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday he had spoken to US President Donald Trump after his announcement of new weapons for Ukraine and thanked him for his support. 

"It was a very good conversation. I thanked him for his readiness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 

Zelenskiy said he and Trump had agreed to speak more frequently and "continue coordinating our steps". 

He also said he had a very good conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who met with Trump at the White House on Monday. 

Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and that billions of dollars of US weapons would go to Ukraine. 

He also threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agreed to a peace deal, expressing frustration at repeated Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. But the threat of sanctions came with a 50-day grace period. 

The weapons would include Patriot air defense missiles, which Ukraine has urgently sought. 

Zelenskiy had earlier met US special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where they discussed boosting Ukraine's air defenses and Kyiv buying weapons with European help. 

Trump had said on Sunday that he would send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine. 

"We discussed the path to peace and what we can practically do together to bring it closer. This includes strengthening Ukraine's air defense, joint production, and procurement of defense weapons in collaboration with Europe," Zelenskiy wrote on X. 

"And of course, sanctions against Russia and those who help it." 

Trump, who began his second term with a more conciliatory approach to Russia, has in recent weeks signaled disenchantment with Putin as Moscow has stepped up air strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. 

An air-raid alert was declared in Kyiv shortly after the meeting between Kellogg and Zelenskiy on Monday.