Iran’s supreme leader has criticized an initial proposal from the United States in negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, though he stopped short of entirely rejecting the idea of agreement with Washington.

Iran's stance directly clashes with U.S. President Donald Trump 's position that Iran must halt all enrichment amid negotiations marked by uncertainty, despite having reached their most significant step since they began in April with a U.S. offer being delivered to Tehran last week.

A senior Iranian official told CNN the new nuclear deal proposal presented to Tehran in recent days is “incoherent and disjointed,” as sources familiar with the progress of the talks said the momentum behind negotiations to secure a new deal appears to be collapsing.