Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected a US proposal on Iran's nuclear program that demands giving up uranium enrichment, saying it is a crucial part of the country's nuclear program.
Iran has been weighing a US proposal drafted by White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, but Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said Iran considers it to be against national interests.
"One key aspect of national independence is the principle that 'We can do it ourselves,'" Khamenei told a gathering in Tehran on June 4 to mark the 36th anniversary of the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.
"The American plan goes 100 percent against [that principle]," he added.
Iran and the United States have held five rounds of talks mediated by Oman to curb Tehran's fast expanding nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
In a post on Truth Social on June 3, US President Donald Trump wrote that under a potential agreement with Iran, "we will not allow any enrichment of uranium."
Iranian officials have staunchly rejected that demand, and Khamenei reiterated that position.
"Uranium enrichment is crucial to the nuclear issue; that's why our enemies have focused on it," said the supreme leader.
Trump last month suggested that he may be open to allowing Iran to maintain a nuclear program for energy production, but Khamenei said it offers more than clean energy.
He described Iran's nuclear program as "a key industry" that contributes to other sectors, including medicine.
"[The Americans] want you to be reliant on them for radiopharmaceuticals, energy, desalination equipment, and in tens of other critical sectors," Khamenei said.
In its latest quarterly report released last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had further increased its production of highly enriched uranium.
The report said Iran had amassed 408.6 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 percent as of May 17, up from just under 275 kilograms in the IAEA's most recent report, in February.
In a separate document, the agency also criticized Tehran's "less than satisfactory" cooperation, especially its failure to explain traces of nuclear material detected at undeclared sites.
The reports come ahead of a scheduled IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna later this month, where Iran's nuclear activities will be reviewed. Tehran has accused the Western nations of politicizing the UN nuclear watchdog to pressure the Islamic republic.
Iran's enrichment of uranium to 60 percent purity is well above the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 nuclear deal, though still below the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear weapon.
