SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iran says US has not asked for zero nuclear enrichment
Tehran, Feb 20 (AFP) Feb 20, 2026
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said US negotiators have not requested Tehran end its nuclear enrichment programme, contradicting statements from American officials.

"We have not offered any suspension, and the US side has not asked for zero enrichment," Araghchi said in an interview on the Morning Joe show published online Friday by US TV network MSNBC.

The top diplomat also said the next step in talks between the two sides is for him to present a draft of a possible deal to Washington "in the next two, three days".

"What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran's nuclear programme, including enrichment, is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever," Araghchi said.

His comments stand in contrast to information relayed by high-ranking US officials including President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium at any level.

Araghchi's remarks come after Washington and Tehran concluded on Tuesday a second round of Oman-mediated talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The two foes held an initial round of discussions on February 6 in Oman, the first since previous talks collapsed during the 12-day Iran-Israel war last June in which the US took part by striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Thursday, Trump suggested the US would attack Iran again if Tehran does not make a deal with Washington within 10 days, which he later extended to 15.

Washington has repeatedly called for zero enrichment but has also sought to address Iran's ballistic missile programme and its support for militant groups in the region -- issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.

Western countries accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to the technology for civilian purposes.

Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the region, which he has described as an "armada".

After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort battleships to the Gulf in January, he ordered a second carrier, the Gerald Ford, to depart for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Iranian naval forces this week conducted military drills in the Gulf and around the strategic Strait of Hormuz in their own show of force.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Study revisits chances of detecting alien technosignatures
Hypersonica completes milestone hypersonic missile flight test in Norway
NASA teams set for second Artemis II wet dress rehearsal

24/7 Energy News Coverage
US renews threat to leave IEA
Environmental groups sue Trump administration over scrapped climate rule
Turkey fires up coal pollution even as it hosts COP31

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Facing US warnings, Iran defends right to nuclear enrichment
Airbus says will back two new European fighter jets 'if clients request'
US to withdraw all troops from Syria: reports

24/7 News Coverage
'Unprecedented' emissions maps will hone mitigation
Sudan's historic acacia forest devastated as war fuels logging
Deadly Indonesia floods force a deforestation reckoning



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.