Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Rome, their fifth round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program

Washington and Tehran have taken a tough public stance before talks, with enrichment a key point of contention.

Iran’s supreme leader has pushed back against U.S. criticism of the country’s nuclear program. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that Tehran won’t seek permission from anyone to enrich uranium and called American statements “nonsense.

President Donald Trump has said he believes negotiators are "getting close to maybe doing a deal," but Ayatollah Ali Khamenei quashed that sentiment.

The foreign minister emphasised that Tehran would consider Washington a “participant” in any such attack launched by Israel at nuclear sites.

TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results."We don't think it will lead to any outcome. We don't

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said negotiations with the US over his country’s nuclear program are unlikely to result in a deal and called the Trump administration’s latest demands on Iran “outrageous.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared that ongoing indirect nuclear talks with the United States are unlikely to succeed, firmly rejecting Washington's demands for a halt to uranium enrichment.