ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday affirmed that Iran would continue its nuclear enrichment program regardless of whether a deal is signed with the US or not.

In a post on X, Araghchi wrote that “ [nuclear] enrichment in Iran… will continue with or without a deal,” adding that Tehran has such a right as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with its position being “crystal clear.”

Iran’s top diplomat continued by lauding the domestic expertise that underlies its nuclear program, saying, “Mastering enrichment technology is a hard-earned and homegrown scientific achievement; an outcome of great sacrifice of both blood and treasure.”

As negotiations between Washington and Tehran regarding the latter’s nuclear program continue, the issue of enrichment has emerged as a recurrent sticking point between the two delegations.

US chief negotiator Steve Witkoff on Sunday said, "We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability,” contradicting earlier US statements that indicated some degree of enrichment would be permitted.

Authorities in Tehran have long criticized the inconsistent US approach, with Araghchi in the same X post bemoaning the “current dissonance we are seeing between what our U.S. interlocutors say in public and in private, and from one week to the other.”

Araghchi’s statement also asserted his country’s readiness to accept a prospective accord, saying, “If the U.S. is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome.”

Tehran and Washington have been negotiating a solution to Iran’s nuclear program and have held four indirect meetings, with Oman acting as a mediator. The talks have progressed positively thus far, according to both sides’ accounts of the discussions, though many sticking points appear to remain.

US President Donald Trump, during his first term in 2018, walked away from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, which was introduced three years earlier in 2015 by his predecessor Barack Obama. Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal provided sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.