Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday dismissed US criticism of Tehran’s nuclear program, asserting that Iran does not need permission to enrich uranium and calling American statements “nonsense.”

“They say, ‘We won’t allow Iran to enrich uranium.’ That’s way out of line,” Khamenei declared during a memorial for the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year. “No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic follows its own policies — and will stick to them.”

“For the Americans to say, ‘We won’t allow Iran to enrich uranium,’ is utter nonsense. We aren’t waiting for anyone’s permission. The Islamic Republic has certain policies, and it will pursue them,” Khamenei wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Khamenei’s rmarks come amid ongoing indirect talks between Iran and the US, though he expressed doubt about their outcome.

“Yes, indirect negotiations were held during Raisi’s time too, just like now,” he said. “But they didn’t go anywhere — and we don’t expect much from the current ones either. Who knows what will happen?”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told the state-run IRNA news agency that “no definitive decision has been made about the next round of negotiations,” adding that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is reviewing the matter while considering the U.S. side’s contradictory and constantly changing positions.”