Pushing uranium enrichment toward weapons-grade levels and rejecting US talks as inspectors flagged violations
Khamenei said in 2021 that Iran could enrich uranium to 60% purity if needed, and within weeks Iran began doing so, a level close to weapons grade. In 2025 he called talks with the United States 'not smart, wise or honourable', and the IAEA board later found Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Editorial timeline of public reporting, not a legal finding.
- Says Iran could enrich to 60% if needed - Reuters and CNBC reported that Khamenei said Iran might enrich uranium up to 60% purity if needed and that the country's needs would set the level. In the same speech he said Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons on Islamic grounds. Iran could enrich uranium up to 60% purity if needed, Khamenei says
- Iran begins enriching to 60% at Natanz - Reuters reported that Iran told the IAEA it would begin enriching uranium up to 60% at Natanz, and days later Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) said Iran had successfully produced 60% enriched uranium. Iran tells IAEA it will enrich uranium up to 60% at Natanz
- Says talks with the US are 'not smart, wise or honourable' - Reuters reported that Khamenei told air force commanders that experience showed negotiating with the United States was 'not smart, wise or honourable', citing the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran's Khamenei says experience proves talks with US 'not smart'
- IAEA board finds Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations - Reuters and The New York Times reported that the IAEA Board of Governors, with 19 of 35 members in favour, passed a resolution finding Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in nearly 20 years. Iran responded by announcing a new enrichment site. U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Says Iran Is Violating Its Obligations