Iran’s senior security official Mohsen Rezaei stated on October 20–21 that not a single gram of enriched uranium would leave the country and that negotiations with the United States would not resume until Washington met Tehran’s preconditions on sanctions relief, asset releases, and port access. This stance directly counters U.S. calls for zero enrichment and stockpile removal, framing the material as sovereign national wealth under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Ongoing mediation by Pakistan’s army chief has produced no shift in these positions, while regional tensions including Strait of Hormuz disputes continue without resolution. Traders price the low likelihood of an agreement by December 31 as reflecting these entrenched diplomatic barriers and the absence of recent concessions that would alter the current impasse.