Iran’s Foreign Minister pours cold water on claims US envoys demanded total nuclear shutdown
By Sun Political Correspondent
IRAN’S top diplomat has sparked a fresh diplomatic firestorm by claiming Donald Trump’s inner circle did not demand a total halt to uranium enrichment during high-stakes talks in Geneva.
In a move that will send shockwaves through Westminster and Washington, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner steered clear of the “zero enrichment” ultimatum that has defined decades of hardline Western policy.
Speaking from Tehran, Araghchi insisted that the Islamic Republic will never budge on its nuclear program, labeling the process a “sovereign right” that is non-negotiable under international law.
The Geneva meetings were seen as a crucial litmus test for Trump’s “maximum pressure” 2.0 strategy. Many expected the President-elect’s team—led by real estate mogul Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner—to demand Iran dismantle its centrifuges entirely.
But according to Araghchi, the “zero enrichment” demand was conspicuously absent from the table.
”Enrichment remains our sovereign right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” a defiant Araghchi stated. “We are not looking for permission to exercise our rights.”
Analysis: A Shift in the Art of the Deal?
The apparent lack of a “zero enrichment” demand suggests the incoming Trump administration might be hunting for a “Grand Bargain” rather than a total surrender.
By focusing on containment rather than elimination, Kushner and Witkoff may be attempting to move the goalposts to prevent Iran from reaching “breakout capacity”—the point at which they have enough material for an atomic bomb—without demanding a total dismantling of their infrastructure.
However, the stakes couldn’t be higher:
The NPT Factor: Iran claims the Non-Proliferation Treaty allows for peaceful nuclear energy.
The Western Fear: The UK and its allies fear “peaceful” enrichment is a smokescreen for developing a warhead.
The Trump Factor: Trump famously tore up the original 2015 nuclear deal, calling it “the worst deal ever.”
The Nuclear Standoff
To understand why this matters, you have to look at the chemistry. Uranium enrichment is the process of increasing the proportion of the isotope ^{235}U.
While low-level enrichment (around 3-5%) is used for power plants, weapons-grade material requires enrichment levels of roughly 90%. The West has long feared that any enrichment capability gives Tehran the “keys to the lab” to eventually build a nuke.
If Trump’s team is indeed moving away from the “zero enrichment” red line, it marks a massive departure from previous GOP rhetoric and could signal the start of the most unpredictable diplomatic era yet.