Iran says currently 'no talks with the US on nuclear issue' as Trump ramps up the pressure

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that there were currently there there were currently "no exchanges" with the United States over the details of Tehran's nuclear programme. The remarks came just a day after Trump sent back an "almost finalised" peace proposal, adding tougher measures.

"We know when it is necessary to act on nuclear matters. No negotiations have taken place on the details of the nuclear file. At this stage, our priority is ending the war," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.

Iran's nuclear programme and the future of the highly enriched uranium have been a contention point between the two nations since the start of the war. US President Donald Trump has been adamant that his country seize the enriched uranium. However, Iran has made it clear that a peace deal can't be reached if the country's rights are not respected.

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Iran says US is 'not to be trusted'

On Sunday, Iran's Chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that the United States was not to be trusted, saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secured Iranian rights.

The Iranian parliament speaker's remarks on the matter came amid reports that Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close. However, any tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the West Asia war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.

It is pertinent to note that Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic’s senior leadership. And, while Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop a weapon.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television on Sunday. According to the Tasnim news agency, exchanges on the text “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, said that “until a clear conclusion is reached…everything that is being said now is speculation”, according to state TV. Iran has maintained that it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear programme, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless”, according to Iranian media.

With inputs from AFP.