Tehran -- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran’s uranium enrichment as part of its nuclear program Is “non-negotiable,” after U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff said the processing program must be dismantled as part of any deal between the sides.
“Iran’s enrichment is a real, accepted matter. We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable,” Araghchi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Witkoff’s comments Tuesday were themselves a reversal of those he made a day earlier, contrary to Israel’s position, that Washington would be satisfied with a cap on Iranian nuclear enrichment and would not require the dismantling of its nuclear facilities.
Araghchi and Witkoff are due to meet again in Oman on Saturday, a week after they held the highest-level indirect talks between the two countries since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.
Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions in a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, which he has reinstated since returning to office in January.
Both sides described Saturday’s meeting as “constructive.”
On Tuesday, Witkoff said Iran must “stop and eliminate” its enrichment of uranium as part of any nuclear deal.
“A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal,” Witkoff said in a statement from his office’s official X account. 
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Witkoff had said Iran “does not need to enrich past 3.67 percent.”
“In some circumstances, they’re at 60%, in other circumstances, 20%. That cannot be,” he said. “You do not need to run — as they claim — a civil nuclear program where you’re enriching past 3.67%.”
His statement on Tuesday appeared to reject any uranium enrichment.
On Tuesday, Trump convened top U.S. officials at the White House to discuss the nuclear talks, Axios reported.
Araghchi condemned the “contradictory and conflicting positions” coming out of the administration ahead of the next round of talks.
“We will find out the true opinions of the Americans during the negotiation session,” he said.
Iran’s top diplomat said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement but stressed that this required “constructive positions” from the United States.
“If we continue to [hear] contradictory and conflicting positions, we are going to have problems,” he warned.
On Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei cautioned that while the talks have proceeded well in their early stages, they could still prove fruitless.
Saturday’s talks were “well carried out in the first steps,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Of course, we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities.”
“The negotiations may or may not yield results,” the Leader said.
Araghchi also confirmed that he will be heading to Russia and will deliver a message from Ayatollah Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin.