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Agence France-Presse

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday ruled out Tehran ever giving up uranium enrichment in its negotiations with Washington, insisting it will not be intimidated by the threat of war with the United States.
The minister, Abbas Araghchi, told a forum in Tehran that Iran had little trust in Washington and even doubted that the US side was taking renewed negotiations seriously.
“Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up, even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behaviour,” Araghchi said.
“Their military deployment in the region does not scare us,” he said, referring to the arrival of an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, in the Arabian Sea.

The United States and Iran reopened negotiations on Friday, for the first time in years, in Oman.
Iran is seeking to have US economic sanctions on the country lifted, in exchange for what Araghchi said at the forum could be “a series of confidence-building measures concerning the nuclear programme”.
Western countries and Israel, thought to be the Middle East’s only country with nuclear weapons, say Iran is seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb, which the Islamic Republic denies.
Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, which stalled mainly due to disagreements over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.
Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step to weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent, the only non-weapons state to do so. Iranian officials in recent years had also been increasingly threatening that the Islamic Republic could seek the bomb, even while its diplomats have pointed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s preachings as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran would not build one.
“I believe the secret of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power lies in its ability to stand against bullying, domination and pressures from others,” Araghchi said.
“They fear our atomic bomb, while we are not looking for one. Our atomic bomb is the power to say ‘no’ to the great powers.”

‘Peace through strength’
Araghchi’s comments came after US lead negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the aircraft carrier on Saturday, signalling the persistent threat of US military action against Iran.
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said the two top officials visited the nuclear-powered vessel.
In a social media post, Witkoff said the aircraft carrier and its strike group was “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength”.
The threat of war continues to hover over the negotiations, even as Trump called the talks “very good” and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media that they “constitute a step forward”.
Following Friday’s first round in Oman, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries still doing business with Iran despite US sanctions.

The United States also announced new sanctions against numerous shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.
At the Tehran forum Sunday, Araghchi called into question the United States’ commitment to negotiations.
“The continuation of certain sanctions and military actions raise doubts about the seriousness and readiness of the other side to conduct genuine negotiations,” he said.
“We are monitoring the situation closely, assessing all the signals and will decide on the continuation of the negotiations.”

Protests toll
Talks between the two arch enemies came amid a major US military build-up in the region in the wake of Iran’s crackdown on protests that began in late December, driven by economic grievances.
The authorities in Iran have acknowledged that 3,117 people were killed in the recent protests, publishing on Sunday a list of 2,986 names, most of whom they say were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders.


International organisations have put the toll far higher.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has kept a running toll since the onset of the protests, says it has verified 6,961 deaths, mainly of protesters, and has another 11,630 cases under investigation. It has also counted more than 51,000 arrests.
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Reuters


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Middle East

An Iranian flag flies in front of the Bushehr nuclear power. Photo: AFP

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a forum in Doha on Saturday. Photo: AFP

The USS Abraham Lincoln, shown in 2019, is being deployed to the Middle East. Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Clint Davis/US Navy/TNS

An Iranian daily newspaper with a picture of Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff is displayed at a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday. Photo: EPA

An Iranian flag flies in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Photo: AFP

A satellite image from February 1 shows a new roof over a previously destroyed building at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran. Photo: PLANET LABS PBC/Reuters

Trump says Iran leaders should be ‘very worried’ as talks near

A Shahab-3 missile is displayed next to a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran in September 2021. Photo: TNS

A US MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter operating in the Persian Gulf on Saturday. Photo: US Navy via AFP

US warships including the Abraham Lincoln transit the Strait of Hormuz in 2019. Photo: US Navy via AP

Ahead of talks, Iran deploys ballistic missile at underground ‘missile city’

Iranian missiles displayed in a park in Tehran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

US-Iran nuclear talks set for Oman amid rising Middle East tensions

A satellite image taken on February 1 shows a new roof over a previously destroyed building at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters


An F/A-18F jet prepares to launch from the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Photo: US Navy via EPA

Iranian missiles displayed in a park in Tehran, Iran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

Satellite images show previously destroyed buildings (left) and a new roof over one destroyed building (right) at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters

Iran plans nuclear talks with US as Trump warns of ‘bad things’

Protesters at an anti-US and anti-Israeli rally in support of the Iranian government, outside the US consulate in Istanbul on Sunday. Photo: AP

An anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran. Photo: EPA

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian. Photo: Iranian Presidency via AFP

An F/A-18E Super Hornet launching from the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on January 28. Photo: US Navy via AFP

Protesters rally in support of the Iranian government outside the US consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on Sunday. Photo: AP

News

World

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insists Iran won’t yield on enrichment, calling resilience – not weapons – its ‘atomic bomb’ despite US threats


Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insists Iran won’t yield on enrichment, calling resilience – not weapons – its ‘atomic bomb’ despite US threats.


Iran defies Trump and US pressure over uranium enrichment

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insists Iran won’t yield on enrichment, calling resilience – not weapons – its ‘atomic bomb’ despite US threats

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insists Iran won’t yield on enrichment, calling resilience – not weapons – its ‘atomic bomb’ despite US threats