US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Sunday that the Trump administration’s “red line” in nuclear talks with Iran was that Tehran cannot maintain any ability to enrich uranium.
“We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability,” Witkoff told ABC’s “This Week.”
“Everything begins… with a deal that does not include enrichment… because enrichment enables weaponization. And we will not allow a bomb to get here,” he added.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on his X account: “If the US is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome. Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal.”
“I think he is completely at a distance from the reality of the negotiations,” said Araghchi about Witkoff, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, adding that enrichment would continue.
Earlier this year, Witkoff had indicated that the US would accept Iran maintaining a limited enrichment capability, but the Trump administration has since hardened its public stance.
US President Donald Trump waves goodbye as he prepares to board Air Force One in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on May 16, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
“We’ve delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them,” Witkoff said. “We want to get to a solution here, and we think that we will be able to.”
Witkoff said negotiators would likely be meeting this week in Europe for another round of talks. “We hope that it will lead to some real positivity.”
Speaking in Abu Dhabi on Friday, US President Donald Trump said his administration had handed Iran a proposal for a nuclear agreement, adding that “they know they have to move quickly or something bad is going to happen.”
The comment came a day after Axios reported that Witkoff had given Iran’s foreign minister a written proposal for a nuclear deal during their fourth round of talks earlier this week. Tehran denied receiving such a document.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, speaks with his Emirati counterpart Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan during a meeting, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 12, 2025. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
Following Trump’s Friday comments, Iran once again said it had not received any written proposals from the United States over a possible nuclear deal.
Aragchi said on X that there were no proposals “whether directly or indirectly.”
Negotiations between the US and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear capabilities have reportedly reached the “expert” level, meaning the sides are trying to reach an agreement on the details of a possible deal. But a major sticking point remains Iran’s enrichment of uranium, which Tehran insists it must be allowed to do and the Trump administration increasingly insists the Islamic Republic must give up.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that their red lines include reducing the amount of highly enriched uranium stockpile to a level below what was agreed under Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers, which Trump scrapped in 2018.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials have increasingly warned they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Israel has also threatened to attack Iran, vowing not to let Tehran get nuclear weapons. Israel views an Iranian bomb as an existential threat amid the Islamic Republic’s repeated calls to destroy Israel.
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