DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's top diplomat insisted Sunday that Tehran's strength comes from its ability to "say no to the great powers," adopting a maximalist position just after negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program and following nationwide protests.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to diplomats at a summit in Tehran that Iran would maintain its position that it must be able to enrich uranium, a point of major controversy with US President Donald Trump, who bombed Iranian atomic sites in June during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington this week, and Iran will be the main topic of discussion, his office said.

Nobel Peace Prize winner sentenced

On the other hand, Iran sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven years in prison after she went on hunger strike, reported people who support her after speaking with her lawyer.

Mohammadi's lawyer, Mostafa Nili, confirmed the sentence in collusion’ and a year and a half for propaganda and a two-year travel ban,” he wrote.

Iran did not comment on the matter.

Supporters say Mohammadi has been on hunger strike since February 2.

Negotiations in Oman

While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian praised Friday's talks in Oman with the Americans as “a step forward,” Araghchi's remarks show the challenge ahead. The United States has already moved the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran to reach an agreement and have the firepower necessary to attack the Islamic Republic if Trump decides to do so.

“I believe that the secret of the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran lies in its ability to resist harassment, domination and pressure from others,” Araghchi said. "They fear our atomic bomb, although we are not looking for an atomic bomb. Our atomic bomb is the power to say 'no' to the great powers. The secret of the power of the Islamic Republic is in the power to say 'no' to the powers."

“Atomic bomb” as a dialectical resource

It is likely that Araghchi's decision to use the expression “atomic bomb” as a metaphor was not accidental. Although Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran had an organized military program to develop the bomb until 2003.

Iran had been enriching uranium to 60% purity, a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%, and is the only non-nuclear weapons state to do so.

In recent years, Iranian authorities have also threatened increasingly that the Islamic Republic could develop the bomb, even as its diplomats have pointed to the teachings of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran would not build one.

Pezeshkian, who ordered Araghchi to seek talks with the Americans after likely getting Khamenei's blessing, also wrote in X on Sunday about the talks.

“The Iran-US talks, carried out through the continued efforts of friendly governments in the region, were a step forward,” the president wrote. “Dialogue has always been our strategy for a peaceful resolution... The Iranian nation has always responded respectfully, with respect, but does not tolerate the language of force.”

It is unclear when and where, or if, there will be a second round of talks. Trump offered few details after Friday's talks, but said, "Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly, as it should."

Aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea

During Friday's talks, US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the US military's Central Command, was in Oman. Cooper's presence was likely a deliberate reminder to Iran about the US military presence in the region. Cooper later accompanied US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, to the Lincoln in the Arabian Sea after the indirect negotiations.

Araghchi appeared to be taking the threat of a US military strike seriously, as many concerned Iranians have done in recent weeks. He noted that after multiple rounds of talks last year, the United States “attacked us in the middle of the negotiations.”

“If you take a step back (in the negotiations), it's not clear how far it will go,” Araghchi said.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.