‘If we had 100 nuclear power plants…,’ Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei slams US proposal in nuclear talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday slammed a preliminary proposal from the United States in talks about Tehran’s nuclear program.

However, he did not completely dismiss the possibility of reaching an agreement with Washington. Khamenei referred to the US offer as being “completely contrary to the spirit of ‘we can’,” a phrase tied to a popular Iranian government slogan, AP reported.

Khamenei also insisted that Tehran needed to keep its ability to enrich uranium, as reported by the Associated Press.

“If we had 100 nuclear power plants while not having enrichment, they are not usable for us,” Khamenei said. “If we do not have enrichment, then we should extend our hand (begging) to the US.”

“Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America,” Khamenei said, adding that the proposal was “100 percent against” the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

However, some nuclear power nations get uranium from outside suppliers.

Details of the American proposal remain unclear after five rounds of talks between Iran and the US.

A report by the news website Axios outlined details of the American proposal, the details of which a U.S. official separately confirmed, include a possible nuclear consortium enriching uranium for Iran and surrounding nations. Whether Iran would have to entirely give up its enrichment program remains unclear, as Axios reported that Iran would be able to enrich uranium up to 3% purity for some time, as reported by the Associated Press.

Reaching a deal is one of the several diplomatic priorities being juggled by US President Donald Trump and his trusted friend and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. An accord could see the United States lift some of its crushing economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for it drastically limiting or ending its enrichment of uranium.

However, failure to reach a deal could escalate already high tensions in the Middle East, which remains volatile amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Iran’s struggling economy could plunge deeper into crisis, potentially fueling further domestic unrest. There is also the looming risk of military action, as Israel or the U.S. might follow through on long-standing threats to strike Iranian nuclear sites.

In response, Tehran could sever ties with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog entirely and accelerate its push toward developing a nuclear weapon.

(With inputs from Associated Press)