Yerevan /Mediamax/. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that U.S. demand from Tehran to abandon uranium enrichment is a "non-starter”.

The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on May 31 by Oman.

Khamenei stated that the U.S. proposal “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of ‘We Can’”.

“Uranium enrichment is the key to our nuclear programme and the enemies have focused on the enrichment,” Khamenei said during a televised speech, as cited by Reuters.

“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100% against our interests. The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear programme. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?,” he added.

Reuters reported on June 2 that Tehran was poised to reject the U.S. proposal as a “non-starter.”