JD Vance Called on Iran to Make Nuclear Concessions. A Senior Official Said Tehran Will ‘Never’ Give Up Enrichment.

An Iranian official said Tehran will "never" give up the right to enrich uranium in exchange for a deal with the United States shortly after Vice President JD Vance made that exact suggestion.

"There have been no negotiations between Iran and the US about Tehran's nuclear program," the senior official told Reuters on Wednesday. He went on to say that the right to enrichment is a "red line" for Tehran, which will "never give up its right."

Earlier, Vance had reiterated to the same outlet that if Iran wants to "show a commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, they would do something meaningful on their ​enrichment capacity."

"If you don't want a nuclear weapon, then why ​do you need 60% enriched fuel? And if you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don't build highly enriched ⁠fuel. That's a very basic threshold issue," he added.

The stalemate continues as a result, with both sides claiming they have the upper hand. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the U.S.'s economic pressure against Iran is working as it has sent its economy into "total and complete freefall."

Speaking to press during a visit to Athens, Rubio went on to say that Tehran has "lost complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz and is unable to prevent ships from going through the waterway.

"The Strait of Hormuz is open. There's almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began," he added.

The Iranian economy does appear to be taking a large hit from the U.S.'s latest measures. Iranian state television claimed that Mohsen Paknejad, who has served as oil minister since August 2024, tendered his resignation over the past days.

The development came as the Iranian oil industry faces unprecedented challenges. Homayoun Falakshahi, the head of crude oil analysis at market intelligence platform Kpler, reported on Thursday that Iran had loaded no oil whatsoever at its export terminals in September, marking the first time Iran's oil loadings had completely stopped since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

When revenue from Iranian oil still at sea dries up, which is expected to happen by the end of the year as the final payments could be collected as late as December, the Iranian regime would have to do without what it has always been its primary source of hard currency.