Iran: Zero Enrichment Off the Table, Contradicts Trump
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- Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, told the BBC that a second round of indirect US-Iran talks will take place in Geneva on Tuesday, following what he and Trump both described as a positive first round in Oman earlier in February.
- Takht-Ravanchi declared that zero enrichment "is not on the table anymore" for Iran, directly contradicting Trump's Friday statement that "we don't want any enrichment" — a gap that exposes the core disagreement blocking any deal.
- Iran's enriched uranium stockpile of more than 400kg at near-weapons-grade 60% remains a key negotiating chip; Russia has offered to accept the material again as it did in the 2015 deal that removed 11,000kg at low-enrichment levels.
- Iran refused to discuss its ballistic missile programme with US negotiators — a key Israeli demand — with Takht-Ravanchi arguing that "when we were attacked by Israelis and Americans, our missiles came to our rescue so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities."
- Omani mediator Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi is the main Arab channel, and Takht-Ravanchi flagged the gap between Trump's public regime-change musings and the "private messages" sent through Oman expressing interest in resolving matters "peacefully."
- Iran warned that another war would be "traumatic, bad for everybody," noting more than 40,000 US soldiers now posted in the region — a buildup Takht-Ravanchi called "a different game" compared to Iran's past retaliation against the Al-Udeid base in Qatar.
- Marco Rubio has included Iran's "treatment of its own citizens" in his demands for any deal, while Takht-Ravanchi criticized Trump's messages to Iranian protesters — "take over your institutions," "help is on the way" — as "an incitement to violence."
Why it matters: The contradiction over zero enrichment is the central obstacle: Iran's deputy FM says the demand is dead, Trump said Friday it remains his position. With 40,000+ US troops in the region, Israel accused of sabotaging the track, and Iran's own missile program off the table, the gap between private diplomatic channels and public posturing now defines whether the Geneva talks produce anything.
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