Iran’s supreme leader has denounced a proposal by the United States aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear efforts and demanded that his country retains national independence amid reports of Washington offering to become involved in Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appeared to reject the framework of the United States’s proposal for a new deal relating to his nation’s nuclear enrichment programs. In a Wednesday speech, the ayatollah dismissed the plan given to Iranian officials by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday as “nonsense.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was “100 percent” against Tehran’s interests, effectively rejecting a key U.S. demand in weeks of tense negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.