Iran sees nuclear agreement with US as unlikely - CNN

A senior Iranian cleric on Friday rebuked Washington for its wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan in a riposte to President Donald Trump's blistering Riyadh speech this month criticizing Iran's underdevelopment.

“They were in Iraq and Afghanistan for 20 years but didn’t build a single power plant or proper infrastructure,” said Mohammad Mohammadian, deputy head of the Supreme Leader’s communications office, according to state news agency IRNA.

His remarks came in response to US President Donald Trump’s speech during a tour of Arab capitals where he accused Iranian leaders of decades of “neglect and mismanagement,” saying they had turned “green farmland into dry deserts” and allowed the country’s infrastructure to collapse.

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Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday that his Iranian counterpart had assured him Tehran would not build a nuclear weapon, describing such a guarantee as a fundamental condition for progress in the ongoing nuclear talks.

“Certainly this is not an easy negotiation. Guarantees are needed from Iran that it will not build a nuclear weapon. That is the conditio sine qua non, and Iran’s foreign minister assured me that it will not happen,” Tajani said, according to Italian news agency Adnkronos.

Tajani also expressed concern over Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, saying he hoped Tehran “does not make reckless decisions” on the matter.

Tajani added that the Italian government fully supports the Oman-led mediation and expressed hope that holding the fifth round of Iran–US nuclear negotiations in Rome signals a reduction in tensions.

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Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Thursday he hopes the ongoing US-Iran negotiations will succeed but insisted Iran must not retain any uranium enrichment capability.

“We hope and pray that the talks being led by Steve Witkoff will be successful,” Leiter told Fox News, referring to the fifth round of indirect talks on Friday. “But… Iran cannot have a path to nuclear weapons.”

Leiter emphasized that enrichment is unnecessary for civilian nuclear energy and warned it poses a direct threat to regional and global stability. “There’s no need for enrichment. Enrichment only leads to one thing, a nuclear bomb,” he said.

“If Iran has a nuclear bomb, they’re going to use it,” he added. “It is an existential threat for the State of Israel. We cannot allow, under any circumstances, for Iran to have a nuclear bomb.”

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An Iranian lawmaker said Friday that continued negotiations with the United States are pointless if Washington insists on ending Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

“If the official US position is to eliminate Iran’s enrichment cycle, then there’s no reason to sit at the table,” said Abolfazl Zohrevand, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee.

He said previous rounds of indirect talks had revealed the US remains fixed in its stance and accused Washington of seeking not just nuclear concessions, but broader geopolitical weakening of Iran.

“This round will also lead nowhere unless Iran enters with clear conditions,” Zohrevand added, warning against repeating what he called “four failed rounds.”

He said Iran should preserve its diplomatic tools and be ready to act forcefully if necessary.

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An Iranian lawmaker warned Friday against tying the country’s economic future to the outcome of nuclear talks with the United States, saying Tehran must prioritize solving internal issues.

Ali Akbar Alizadeh, a member of parliament from Damghan in northeastern Iran, said negotiations are only one aspect of the Foreign Ministry’s responsibilities and should not dominate the country’s overall strategy.

“If talks fail to yield results, we will not have lost anything,” Alizadeh said in an interview with Mehr News Agency. “The government must not let the economy depend on the outcome of indirect negotiations with the US.”

“Efforts to link the talks to people’s livelihoods are misguided,” Alizadeh said, adding that enemies aim to keep Iran stalled by hinging progress on the negotiations.

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