Iran rejects temporary halt on uranium enrichment to secure US nuclear deal
Source: Reuters
May 26, 2025 5:46 AM EDT Updated 7 hours ago
DUBAI, May 26 (Reuters) - Iran would be able to survive if negotiations with the U.S. over its nuclear programme fail to secure a deal, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday, after President Donald Trump described weekend talks with Tehran as "very good". The negotiations aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and Trump has threatened Iran with crippling economic sanctions and bombing if no new nuclear agreement is reached.
"It's not like we will die of hunger if they refuse to negotiate with us or impose sanctions," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media about the talks with Washington. "We will find a way to survive."
The stakes are high for both sides in the talks.
Trump wants to curtail Tehran's potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. Iran, for its part, maintains that its nuclear programme is exclusively for civilian purposes and wants to be rid of devastating sanctions on its oil-based economy.
Iranian and U.S. delegations wrapped up a fifth round of talks in Rome last week and, while signs of some limited progress emerged, there are many points of disagreement that are hard to breach, notably the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment. Asked about reports that Iran could freeze enrichment for three years to reach an agreement, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a press conference: "Iran will never accept that."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-will-not-temporarily-suspend-enrichment-secure-nuclear-deal-with-us-2025-05-26/
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You're hired! They love your plausible nuance. 
But seriously! Omitting mention of JCPOA is like journalistic malpractice. And at this point that term is losing all meaning.
By the way, in spite of the downward spiral in journalistic quality, thanks for all your news curating.
the few years it was in effect, it was dicey on and off, but it was WAY better than nothing at all!
And most welcome! It's a struggle to wade through the Taylor Swift, P-Diddy stuff to find out what the heck is going on that is being intentionally "buried", only to find it appearing days later.
