U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Newsmax Tuesday that there was no evidence Iran was prepared to make concessions during negotiations with the United States before military action against its nuclear infrastructure.
Speaking on Newsmax's "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren," Witkoff, who led the U.S. negotiating team, said Iranian officials repeatedly claimed they were willing to compromise but never demonstrated it in talks.
"They claim that they were ready to make concessions," Witkoff said. "But there was no palpable evidence of it."
From the outset, Witkoff said Iranian negotiators took a hard line, asserting they had a right to enrich uranium.
"They actually opened up that they had the inalienable right to enrich," he said. "And our response was somewhat along the lines of, President [Donald] Trump views it that we have the inalienable right to stop you from enriching."
The U.S., he said, attempted to offer Iran an alternate path that would allow it to pursue civilian nuclear energy without enriching uranium itself.
"We said to them, 'We'd like to see you not enriching, and we'd be prepared to give you free fuel for at least 10 years, perhaps longer,' " Witkoff said.
Iran rejected the offer.
"Their response was sort of awkward. It was, 'We don't need you to do that for us.'"
Witkoff said the refusal suggested Tehran was determined to retain enrichment capabilities potentially tied to weapons development.
"If you're intent on enriching, if you're intent on stockpiling, if you're intent on getting toward a weapon, then what you can't do is take fuel from somebody else," he said.
The negotiations involved Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whom Witkoff said did not appear to have authority to finalize an agreement.
"We never had the sense that he had that authority," Witkoff said.
He added that Iran initially wanted to negotiate indirectly through intermediaries rather than speak directly with U.S. officials.
"If you're there to make a deal, that's just not a format that works," he said.
Witkoff also described a tense final meeting in which Araghchi became confrontational.
"He started yelling and screaming," Witkoff said.
"I was very calm with him, as I recall. I said to him, 'Well, maybe you'd just like me to leave.' "
During earlier talks, Witkoff said Araghchi openly acknowledged Iran possessed 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, which he noted is close to weapons-grade.
"Sixty percent enriched material is roughly one week to 10 days away from being 90% weapons-grade," Witkoff said. "He then said, 'You and I both know that that is roughly 11 bombs' worth of material.'"
Iran also refused to negotiate limits on ballistic missiles, a key U.S. demand.
"They refused to talk about the missiles," Witkoff said. "And that was a redline for us."
Looking ahead, Witkoff said a potential trip to Israel next week could involve discussions on Iran, Lebanon, and efforts to finalize a peace agreement and the demilitarization of Hamas.
"We need to bring peace to that region," he said. "Everybody wants to see a final peace, and we're going to do it."