Iran rejects push to suspend uranium enrichment to reach nuclear deal with US

Iran rules out suspending its uranium enrichment as part of any potential nuclear agreement with the United States.

“This information is a figment of the imagination and totally false,” says foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai, when asked about the possibility during a press briefing in Tehran.

Enrichment remains the key point of contention between the sides.

US officials up to President Donald Trump insist Iran cannot continue to enrich uranium at all in any deal that could see sanctions lifted on Tehran’s struggling economy. Iran insists that there will not be an agreement that does not permit it to enrich uranium.

Baghai’s comments come after Trump said yesterday that American negotiators had made “real progress” during nuclear talks with Iran over the weekend, and hinted that an announcement could come in the “next two days.”