Iran Does Not Believe Nuclear Talks with US Will Yield Results, says Khamenei

Wednesday, 21 May 2025 | Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that the chances of a breakthrough in negotiations with the United States over Iran’s nuclear program are slim, accusing the US administration of making “nonsense statements.” 

“The Islamic Republic does not believe that the current negotiations with America will yield positive results, and no one knows what will follow,” he said at a ceremony commemorating former Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who both died in a helicopter crash in May, 2024, near the border with Azerbaijan. 

“The Americans must stop making nonsense statements and issuing futile remarks,” said Khamenei, according to Iran’s semi-official news agency Mehr. 

The Iranian leader pushed back against American demands to stop its enrichment of uranium, calling them “outrageous.” 

“We are not waiting for anyone’s permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies, its own path, and will pursue its strategies independently,” he said. 

On Monday, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that Washington will not accept enrichment of uranium in any deal with Tehran. 

“We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability,” Witkoff said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.” 

An indispensable condition for an accord with Iran from US President Donald Trump’s perspective, the envoy continued, is that it “does not include enrichment. We cannot have that. Because enrichment enables weaponization. And we will not allow a bomb to get here.” 

He added that US–Iran talks will resume this week in Europe, expressing optimism that they “will lead to some real positivity.” 

Also on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi hosted a meeting with senior Hamas officials in Tehran, Mehr reported. 

According to the Iranian outlet, the Hamas delegation included Basem Naim, a member of the terrorist organization’s “political bureau” based in Qatar, as well as Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based senior official. 

The issues discussed during the meeting were not released to the media.