DUBAI: Iran will not consider temporarily suspending uranium enrichment to secure a nuclear deal with the US, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding that no date had yet been set for a sixth round of talks with Washington.
The negotiations between Washington and Tehran aim to resolve a decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and both sides have taken a tough stance in public over the issue of Iran’s uranium enrichment.
Asked about reports that Iran could freeze enrichment for three years to reach an agreement, spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a press conference: “Iran will never accept that.”
Baghaei also ruled out the possibility of an interim nuclear deal with the US, dismissing media reports that a provisional agreement was being considered as a temporary step toward a final deal.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US negotiators had “very good” talks with an Iranian delegation over the weekend.
Iran is waiting for further details from mediator Oman regarding the timing of the next round of talks, Baghaei said.
“If there is goodwill from the American side, we are also optimistic, but if talks are aimed at curbing Iran’s rights then talks will get nowhere,” he added.
The stakes are high for both sides.
Trump wants to curtail Tehran’s potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. Iran, for its part, maintains its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian purposes and wants to be rid of devastating sanctions on its oil-based economy.
Iran rejects temporary halt on uranium enrichment to secure US nuclear deal
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Iran rejects temporary halt on uranium enrichment to secure US nuclear deal
UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon
- “Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF soldiers in a Merkava tank,” UNIFIL said
- It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese territory
BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Wednesday that Israeli forces fired on its peacekeepers a day earlier in the country’s south, urging Israel’s army to “cease aggressive behavior.”
It is the latest such incident reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and has been working with Lebanon’s army to support a year-old truce between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
“Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF (Israeli army) soldiers in a Merkava tank,” a UNIFIL statement said, referring to the de facto border.
“One ten-round burst of machine-gun fire was fired above the convoy, and four further ten-round bursts were fired nearby,” the statement said.
It said that both the peacekeepers and the Israeli tank were in Lebanese territory at the time of the incident and that the Israeli military had been informed of the location and timing of the peacekeeping patrol in advance.
“Peacekeepers asked the IDF to stop firing through UNIFIL’s liaison channels... Fortunately, no one was injured,” it said.
Last month UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops in the south, while Israel’s military said it mistook blue helmets for “suspects” and fired warning shots.
In October, UNIFIL said one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
“Attacks on or near peacekeepers are serious violations of (UN) Security Council Resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said on Wednesday, referring to the 2006 resolution that formed the basis of the November 2024 truce.
“We call on the IDF to cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working to rebuild stability along the Blue Line,” the peacekeepers said.
Israel carries out regular attacks on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting sites and operatives belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
On Saturday, a UN Security Council delegation visiting Lebanon urged all parties to uphold the ceasefire.
It emphasized that the “safety of peacekeepers must be respected and that they must never be targeted,” after gunmen on mopeds attacked UNIFIL personnel last week.
