No limits on Iran enrichment: nuclear chief
Israel vowed more strikes against Hezbollah dismissing mounting international demands that the fragile truce between the US and Iran be expanded to cover the war in Lebanon
Published: 06:04 PM,Apr 09,2026 | EDITED : 10:04 PM,Apr 09,2026
The head of Iran's nuclear energy agency on Thursday ruled out any restrictions on the country's enrichment of uranium, saying the demand by the United States and Israel 'will not come true'.
'The claims and demands of our enemies to restrict Iran's enrichment programme are merely wishes that will be buried,' Mohammad Eslami was quoted as saying by Iran's ISNA news agency.
His remarks came with talks set to take place at the end of the week between Iran and the United States under Pakistani mediation.
'All the conspiracies and actions of our enemies, including this brutal war, have yielded no results. Now they seek to achieve something through negotiations,' Eslami said.
The issue of uranium enrichment has been central to Western relations with Iran for more than two decades, with the US and its allies accusing Tehran of seeking atomic weapons, while Iran has always insisted its programme is for civilian purposes only.
US President Donald Trump has insisted 'there will be no enrichment of uranium' by Iran after the war.
He argued before the current war that Iran was rushing to build atomic weapons, an assertion not backed by the UN's nuclear watchdog.
The US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that began the latest conflict took place with Washington and Tehran engaged in negotiations that included Iran's nuclear programme.
During last June's 12-day war, Israel and the United States hit Iran's nuclear programme, claiming to have obliterated its ability to enrich uranium.
Nevertheless, the whereabouts of several hundred kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium remains unknown following the bombing.
It is thought to be buried under the rubble of a bombed location, with Trump suggesting in a social media post that Iran and the US could work together to 'dig up and remove all of the deeply buried' nuclear material.
Before last year's war, Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 per cent, well above the 3.67 per cent limit allowed by a now-defunct 2015 nuclear agreement and close to the 90 per cent needed to make a bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Meanwhile, Israel vowed more strikes against Hezbollah on Thursday, dismissing mounting international demands that the fragile truce between the US and Iran in the Gulf be expanded to cover the war in Lebanon.
At least 203 people were killed and 1,000 wounded in the latest strikes, the Lebanese health ministry said, and Iran's parliamentary speaker warned Tehran sees Lebanon as an 'inseparable part of the ceasefire' and threatened 'strong responses'.
President Donald Trump has claimed victory in the Middle East war after agreeing a two-week truce to allow talks between US and Iranian negotiators to end a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
But the future of the negotiations — planned to begin this week in Pakistan — was already in danger on Thursday after Tehran denounced Israel's raids on Lebanon and its nuclear energy agency ruled out any restrictions on the country's enrichment of uranium, a key demand of Washington.
'We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination,' Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a social media post. 'Our message is clear: anyone who acts against Israeli civilians, we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary.' - AFP