Above photo: Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Iran says its enriched uranium is ‘not going anywhere’.
After Trump claimed he would bring it to the US.
Iran and the US have made progress in negotiations but are still a long way from a deal, Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator stated in a speech on 19 April, raising concerns that Washington and Tel Aviv’s war on the Islamic Republic may resume when the current ceasefire expires on Wednesday.
In a nationally televised address on Saturday night, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, “If I want to summarize, we have made progress, but our differences are still great. Some fundamental differences remain … We are still far from the final discussion.”
“America must gain the trust of the Iranian nation. This is the most important step the Americans can take,” Ghalibaf added. “They must abandon their approach in their dialogue from unilateralism and the mentality that they want to impose something on us.”
Where have the Islamabad negotiations reached?
“Yes, some issues have reached conclusion. Some issues have not. There are places where we insist on those issues, truly, these demands of ours are not negotiable. They’re not.”
Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf says they had progress,… pic.twitter.com/dGXAKz7oGg
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) April 18, 2026
In the past, the US and Israel have assassinated leaders and negotiators from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran amid ongoing peace talks.
On Sunday, Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, said that US President Donald Trump cannot justify depriving the Islamic Republic of its right to nuclear energy.
“Trump says Iran cannot make use of its nuclear rights, but doesn’t say for what crime. Who is he to deprive a nation of its rights?” Pezeshkian stated.
On Friday, Trump claimed that Iran was willing to give up its enriched uranium, the key to its nuclear program, and allow it to be brought to the US.
“We’re going to get it together. We’re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery … We’ll bring it back to the United States,” Trump said during a phone interview with Reuters.
In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei rejected Trump’s claim. “Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere; transferring uranium to the United States has not been an option for us,” Baghaei told state TV.
Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf’s Saturday night speech comes after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, including by attacking two Indian-flagged vessels.
Where have the Islamabad negotiations reached?
“Yes, some issues have reached conclusion. Some issues have not. There are places where we insist on those issues, truly, these demands of ours are not negotiable. They’re not.”
Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf says they had progress,… pic.twitter.com/dGXAKz7oGg
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) April 18, 2026
The IRGC reimposed the restrictions after Trump insisted that the US would maintain a blockade on Iranian ports despite Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s announcement on X that Hormuz was “completely open.”
Regarding a possible new round of talks, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, stated on Saturday that no date could be set before the two sides agree on a “framework of understanding,” and that Washington was preventing new negotiations by insisting on a “maximalist” stance.
“We must pay attention that the enemy has not abandoned his enmity. The enemy is certainly in ambush, certainly seeking to inflict harm and has not despaired of this. Every day, a new plot and mischief comes out of his sleeve.”
— Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf pic.twitter.com/j1J4q6mQ9S
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) April 18, 2026
“The other sides also should understand and address our main concerns, which are illegal unilateral sanctions that Americans have imposed on Iranians and this economic terrorism which has targeted Iranian people to suffocate them and make them revolt against the political structure inside Iran,” Khatibzadeh said.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump said the US would “have to start dropping bombs again” if no deal was reached by Wednesday, the day the current ceasefire expires.
Abbas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, told Al Jazeera he does not believe the US is seeking a diplomatic agreement to end the war.
“The first track was negotiations, but Iran has been saying that if the US is genuinely seeking an agreement, why are they engaging in a naval blockade, why are they adding sanctions, and why are they intensifying their military presence in the region?” he asked.
“There are no signs of extension of these agreements, and nobody’s talking about extending this ceasefire,” he told Al Jazeera.
Tehran confirms no talks scheduled with Washington, blasts ‘excessive demands’
Iran’s confirmation comes after its announcement to re-close the Strait of Hormuz due to ongoing US ‘piracy’
Iranian officials announced on 18 April that they have not agreed to hold a new round of talks with the US to end the war of aggression due to the “excessive demands” from US President Donald Trump.
Citing informed sources, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency said Tehran is unwilling to enter new negotiations with Washington over this posture, including Trump’s Friday announcement that he would maintain a naval blockade on Iran.
Trump’s statement came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced via social media that the Strait of Hormuz would be “completely open.”
Officials emphasized that accurately assessing the conditions is crucial for ongoing talks; otherwise, there is no reason to enter into “tiring and futile negotiations.”
Iran’s deputy foreign minister affirmed on Saturday that no date has been set for the next round of negotiations and that any new round of talks should not be used as a pretext for the US and Israel to continue the war.
“We are now focusing on finalizing the framework of understanding between the two sides. We don’t want to enter into any negotiation or meeting that is doomed to fail, and which can be a pretext for another round of escalation,” Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in southern Turkiye.
Iran’s Deputy FM Saeed Khatibzadeh said that talks with the US cannot happen until the two sides agree on a shared ‘framework’.
He stressed that whatever Iran agrees to in negotiations must preserve its rights under international law. pic.twitter.com/ZT2k6Ug0Yd
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 18, 2026
“Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set the date … There was significant progress made, actually. But then the maximalist approach by the other side, trying to make Iran an exception from international law, prevented us from reaching an agreement,” he added.
Khatibzadeh affirmed that Iran would not accept an agreement that does not adhere to international law.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council issued a statement on Saturday regarding negotiations, saying that the US began requesting negotiations on just the 10th day of the war.
It said the US had accepted Iran’s 10-point plan as the framework for negotiations to end the conflict, leading to 21 hours of direct negotiations between the two sides in Pakistan on the 40th day of the war.
However, the talks failed because “the enemy raised new and excessive demands,” and the Iranian delegation took a “firm stance” and made the decision not to compromise on its positions in any way.
The Iranian team decided to postpone talks until “another time when the enemy stops being excessive and amends its demands in accordance with the realities on the ground.”
“We announce that the Iranian negotiating team will not compromise, retreat, or tolerate anything, and will defend with all its might the interests and concerns of the Iranian nation,” the Security Council stated.
Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire last week on condition of an end to fighting not only in Iran, but also in Lebanon and Iraq.
However, Israel launched a brutal bombing campaign in Lebanon, hitting 100 targets in just ten minutes and killing some 300 people on 9 April.
