Iran’s Khamenei Criticizes US Proposal in Nuclear Talks but Doesn’t Reject the Idea of a Deal 

Iranians drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (R) and late Iranian supreme leader Khomeini (L) on a street in Tehran, Iran, 01 June 2025. (EPA)
Iranians drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (R) and late Iranian supreme leader Khomeini (L) on a street in Tehran, Iran, 01 June 2025. (EPA)
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Iran’s Khamenei Criticizes US Proposal in Nuclear Talks but Doesn’t Reject the Idea of a Deal 

Iranians drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (R) and late Iranian supreme leader Khomeini (L) on a street in Tehran, Iran, 01 June 2025. (EPA)
Iranians drive past a wall painting of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei (R) and late Iranian supreme leader Khomeini (L) on a street in Tehran, Iran, 01 June 2025. (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday criticized an initial proposal from the United States in negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, though he stopped short of entirely rejecting the idea of agreement with Washington. 

The remarks by Ali Khamenei colored in the red line expressed over recent days — one that says Tehran refuses to give up enriching uranium in any possible deal with the US. 

That demand has been repeatedly made by American officials, including President Donald Trump, though it remains unclear just how much US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff brought it up in his initial proposal to Iran. 

But what Khamenei did not say in his speech matters as well. He didn't reject the talks, which Iran views as crucial for its economy to lift some the crushing economic sanctions it faces. 

Khamenei also did not insist on any specific level of nuclear enrichment. Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has led the talks with Witkoff, said Tehran soon will offer its response to the US Khamenei's speech Wednesday at the mausoleum of Khomeini may serve as a preview. 

“If we had 100 nuclear power plants while not having enrichment, they are not usable for us,” Khamenei said. “If we do not have enrichment, then we should extend our hand (begging) to the US.” 

Khamenei touched on previous remarks The 86-year-old Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state in Iran, often balances his remarks over the demands of reformists within the country who want the talks against hard-line elements within Iran’s theocracy, including the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. 

Late in August, Khamenei in a speech opened the door to possible talks with the US, saying there is “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.” The supreme leader later tempered that, saying that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable,” after Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran. 

Khamenei's speech on Wednesday, marking the anniversary of Khomeini's death, offered an opportunity to discuss Witkoff's proposal. He described it as “100% against the idea of ‘we can,’” borrowing from an Iranian government slogan. He described the US as having long sought the dismantling of Iran’s entire nuclear industry. 

“The impolite and insolent American leaders keep repeating this demand with different wordings," Khamenei said. 

He added, using a slogan he's said before: “Those currently in power, Zionist or American, should be aware that they can’t do a damn thing about this." 

Some nuclear power nations do get uranium from outside suppliers, however. Experts long have viewed Iran as using its nuclear program as a chip in negotiations with the West to get sanctions relief. 

The details of the American proposal remain unclear after five rounds of talks between Iran and the US. 

A report by the news website Axios on the American proposal, the details of which a US official separately confirmed, include a possible nuclear consortium that would enrich uranium for Iran and surrounding nations.  

Whether Iran would have to entirely give up its enrichment program remains unclear, as Axios reported that Iran would be able to enrich uranium up to 3% purity for some time. 

A failure to get a deal could see tensions further spike in a Middle East already on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. 

Iran's long-ailing economy could enter a free fall that could worsen the simmering unrest at home. Israel or the US might carry out long-threatened airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. And Tehran may decide to fully end its cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and rush toward a bomb. 



Kremlin Says Europe Will Feel the Recoil from Its 'Illegal' Sanctions on Russia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the heads of international news agencies at the newly renovated St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the heads of international news agencies at the newly renovated St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Kremlin Says Europe Will Feel the Recoil from Its 'Illegal' Sanctions on Russia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the heads of international news agencies at the newly renovated St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the heads of international news agencies at the newly renovated St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Kremlin said in remarks published on Sunday that the tougher the sanctions imposed on Russia by Europe, the more painful the recoil would be for Europe's own economies as Russia had grown resistant to such "illegal" sanctions.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered a wave of Western sanctions on Russia and it is by far the most sanctioned major economy in the world.

The West said that it hoped its sanctions would force President Vladimir Putin to seek peace in Ukraine, and though the economy contracted in 2022, it grew in 2023 and 2024 at faster rates than the European Union.

The European Commission on June 10 proposed a new round of sanctions against Russia, targeting Moscow's energy revenues, its banks and its military industry, though the United States has so far refused to toughen its own sanctions.

Asked about remarks by Western European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron that toughening sanctions would force Russia to negotiate an end to the war, the Kremlin said only logic and arguments could force Russia to negotiate.

"The more serious the package of sanctions, which, I repeat, we consider illegal, the more serious will be the recoil from a gun to the shoulder. This is a double-edged sword," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television.

Peskov told state television's top Kremlin correspondent, Pavel Zarubin, that he did not doubt the EU would impose further sanctions but that Russia had built up "resistance" to such sanctions.

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that any additional EU sanctions on Russia would simply hurt Europe more - and pointed out that Russia's economy grew at 4.3% in 2024 compared to euro zone growth of 0.9%.