WASHINGTON — Iran intends to reject a US-proposed deal Monday that would have Tehran scrap its nuclear program and get rid of its existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium needed to make nuclear bombs, according to a report.
“Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer,” a senior diplomat close to Iran’s negotiating team told Reuters.
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who has been mediating discussions between Washington and Tehran, presented the deal to Iranian officials Saturday.
The proposal was the result of five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Tehran has protested Trump’s demand to give up its nuclear program, claiming it wants to retain it for civilian purposes.
“In this proposal, the US stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions,” the diplomat told Reuters.
The person also said Tehran felt the proposal was “completely one-sided,” the outlet reported.
Iran may be willing to accept some restrictions on enrichment, but Trump has been steadfast on his position seeking the complete nuclear disarmament of Iran, whose leaders have openly called for his assassination in retribution for the killing of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani during his first presidential term.
Though Trump has led with the diplomatic approach to ending Iran’s nuclear program, he has never publicly ruled out acting on prior threats to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites if needed.
Earlier in the talks, Witkoff briefly floated allowing Iran to hold onto its facilities if it promised to keep uranium enrichment levels lower than what’s needed for weapons, a plan that mirrored the Obama administration’s nuclear deal.
“You do not need to run, as they claim, a ‘civil nuclear program’ where you’re enriching past 3.67%,” Witkoff told Fox News host Sean Hannity on April 14. “So this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program.”
But Witkoff walked back his comments a day later, saying, “Any final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East — meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”
Meanwhile, Israeli officials have been quietly discussing the possibility of destroying the Iranian nuclear sites in an airstrike campaign — with or without US support, national security sources have told The Post.
Araqchi said Monday he did “not think Israel will commit such a mistake as to attack Iran” during a press conference in Cairo.
