Iran steps up arrests, floats ‘diluting’ its enriched uranium as Netanyahu heads to US

PM set to give Trump latest intel; Tehran’s atomic chief floats downblending near-weapons-grade nuclear material in exchange for sanctions relief; Khamenei calls for national ‘resolve’

Iran stepped up its continuing crackdown on dissent on Monday, arresting more people while holding the door open to Washington for further nuclear negotiations.

The arrests — including that of Javad Emam, the spokesperson for the country’s main reformist coalition — came after Iranian and US officials held talks in Oman that both sides painted as positive. And they came on the eve of a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he will reportedly brief US President Donald Trump about Israeli intelligence on Iran.

Weeks after repressing a wave of protests with a deadly crackdown in which many thousands were reported killed, following one of the greatest challenges to the regime’s authority since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tehran has taken a two-track approach.

It is rounding up and jailing perceived critics, while at the same time pursuing a potential diplomatic opening with the Trump administration. On Monday, it floated possible concessions on its stockpile of enriched uranium.

After heaping more jail time on Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, Iran on Monday arrested Hossein Karoubi, the son of prominent dissident Mehdi Karoubi. A spokesperson for the Reformist Front coalition told local media on Monday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had arrested the group’s spokesman Emam.

Emam was one of at least five Reformist Front figures to be detained, alongside several activists and filmmakers for co-signing a protest statement.

Iran’s government has claimed that the protests were “riots” fueled by its chief adversaries, Israel and the United States. It has threatened to attack Israel and US targets if Trump follows through on his threats to attack Iran over the crackdown and over its nuclear program.

On Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for “resolve” ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution this week.

Since the revolution, “foreign powers have always sought to restore the previous situation,” Khamenei said in a televised address, referring to the period when Iran was under the rule of Shah Reza Pahlavi and dependent on the United States.

“National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and steadfastness of the people,” he said, adding: “Show it again and frustrate the enemy.”

Alongside this defiance, Iran has signaled it could come to some kind of deal to dial back its nuclear program to avoid further conflict with Washington.

The official IRNA news agency reported that Iranian atomic agency chief Mohammad Eslami had said that Tehran could dilute its highly enriched uranium in return for sanctions relief.

“In response to a question about the possibility of diluting 60 percent enriched uranium,” IRNA reported, Eslami “said this depends on whether all sanctions would be lifted in return.”

Washington has demanded Iran relinquish its stockpile — estimated last year by the UN nuclear agency at more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) — of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step away from the 90% that is considered weapons grade.

Diluting or “downblending” uranium means mixing it with other substances to reduce the enrichment level, so the final product does not exceed a given enrichment threshold — and thus extending the amount of time it would take Iran to create sufficient nuclear material for a bomb.

Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Before the 12-day war between the countries last June, Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.

At the talks in Oman last week, the US and Iran agreed to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, though Washington and Israel also want to put Iran’s ballistic missiles and its support for proxy terror groups in the region on the agenda. Iran has rejected this.

On Monday, Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu decided to move his meeting with US President Donald Trump to this week in order to deliver an in-person briefing on Israel’s latest intelligence regarding Iran.

According to the news outlet, which cited a source close to the premier, Netanyahu will deliver the same briefing to Trump that he gave US special envoy Steve Witkoff when he visited Israel last week.

He is choosing to deliver it himself to ensure Trump receives all the information accurately, the report says. The briefing will cover the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and missile programs, as well as its support for proxies, and the suppression of protesters during the recent demonstrations.

Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Khamenei and secretary of Iran’s national security council, will visit Oman on Tuesday following the US-Iranian talks there, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

“During this trip, [Larijani] will meet with high-ranking officials of the Sultanate of Oman and discuss the latest regional and international developments and bilateral cooperation at various levels,” Tasnim said.

The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that a new round of talks would be “an appropriate opportunity for a fair and balanced resolution of this case,” and that a desired outcome could be reached if the US avoids maximalist positions and respects its commitments.

Iran would continue to demand the lifting of sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights, including enrichment, he said.

Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, with the process breaking down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment inside Iran. The US then struck Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of the Israel-Iran war.

Since Trump struck Iran’s facilities, Tehran has said it has halted enrichment activity.

Iran still holds “deep distrust” for the United States despite agreeing to return to the talks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Monday.

“We are looking for serious negotiations to achieve a result, provided the other side shows the same seriousness and is also ready for constructive negotiations,” the minister said.

“Unfortunately, a deep mistrust persists due to the behavior of the United States in recent years,” he said, addressing ambassadors at a diplomatic gathering in Tehran.

Trump previously warned Iran not to kill protesters. But more recently, the United States has not given any sign that the continuing crackdown on Iran’s domestic critics is of significant concern to it in the talks.

The arrest of Reformist Front spokesman Emam followed those on Sunday of three other figures, including Azar Mansouri, who has led the coalition since 2023. Another reformist lawmaker was arrested on Monday.

The reformist camp largely backed Pezeshkian in the 2024 presidential election.

Separately, Hussein Karoubi was also picked up. Karoubi’s father, Mehdi Karoubi, was a figure in the 2009 Green movement protests and has largely been under house arrest ever since.

The authorities in Iran have acknowledged that 3,117 people were killed in the protests, and published a list of 2,986 names, most of whom they say were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders.

International organizations have put the toll far higher. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has verified 6,961 deaths, mostly protesters, and has another 11,630 cases under investigation. It has also counted more than 51,000 arrests.