Iran's temporary Friday prayer leader has declared that demands to halt uranium enrichment are "unacceptable", saying that the Islamic Republic will not submit to US and European pressure.

Firebrand cleric Ahmad Khatami, speaking during the second sermon of Tehran’s Friday prayers on October 3, echoed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s stance on the necessity of uranium enrichment for medical, agricultural, and environmental purposes, ISNA reported on October 3.

“If any person or government says ‘no enrichment at all’, that’s coercion, and Iran does not accept humiliation,” Khatami said.

He lambasted the US, claiming it seeks to disarm Iran by banning enrichment and long- and medium-range missiles to leave it vulnerable to attack.

“These fools don’t realise we will plough Tel Aviv and Haifa,” he said, stressing that resistance is the nation’s chosen path.

His comments come as the US and Iran continue to negotiate over the country’s nuclear power programme, with American media reporting that the Trump administration has set four difficult conditions to continue negotiations. The four requirements sent to the Iranians include direct talks (not with third parties), a total end to nuclear enrichment, a curb on missile production and a total stop to supporting regional proxies, including Hezbollah, Iraq's PMF and the Houthis, who currently control Yemen. 

Quoting Khamenei, he added that direct talks with the US yield “no benefit, avert no harm, and are an absolute dead-end”.

He said: “Death with honour is better than a life of humiliation.”

Addressing the US and European nations, Khatami dismissed threats to activate the “snapback” mechanism to restore UN sanctions, stating, “For 47 years, America has achieved nothing, and you will achieve nothing with this mechanism.”

Khatami condemned US President Donald Trump’s plan for Palestine as a scheme to perpetuate its subjugation.

He praised delegations that walked out during a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but criticised Islamic nations’ representatives who remained, accusing them of aiding “the century’s unparalleled criminal”.

Khatami’s comments come as US troops build up across the region, in what retired US Colonel Douglas Macgregor described on the Daniel Davis podcast as the US preparing for a potential second attack on Iran.

He mentioned that there has been a substantial movement of KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46 Pegasus aircraft to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a hub for US Central Command operations in the region.

Open-source flight trackers estimate at least 12-30 refuelling aircraft have been deployed from the United States to Qatar in late September and early October, signalling preparations to extend the operational range of US and allied aircraft for possible long-range missions.

In a further sign of US focus on Tehran, the USS Nimitz carrier strike group has been rerouted from the South China Sea to the Middle East.

This deployment means two or more US aircraft carriers are now stationed in the region, boosting US power projection and defensive capabilities.