Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear program if Western countries show they are “serious,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baqae was quoted as saying in an interview published yesterday.
“We have said several times that we are ready for discussions, but only if the other side is serious about this,” Baqaei told the government daily Iran.
Tehran has signaled to the West several times its willingness to reach an agreement over its nuclear program.
Photo: AP / Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In an interview with Sky News posted to his official Telegram channel on Tuesday, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi said the new US administration should work to win back Tehran’s trust if it wants a new round of nuclear talks.
Baqaei yesterday expressed hope that US President Donald Trump would adopt a “realistic approach” toward Iran.
During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure,” withdrawing the US from a landmark nuclear deal that imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
Asked about the possibility of new talks, Baqaei said Iran’s policy would depend on “the actions of the other parties.”
Tehran adhered to the deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — until a year after Washington’s withdrawal in 2018, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear pact have since faltered.
Iran has repeatedly expressed willingness to revive the nuclear deal, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July last year, has called for an end to his country’s isolation.
Before Trump’s return to the White House, Iranian officials held nuclear talks with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany that both sides described as “frank and constructive.”
In December, the three Western governments accused Tehran of growing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification.”
They also discussed the possible reimposition of sanctions.
Baqaei yesterday said that if this happened, Iran’s adherence to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty “would no longer have any meaning.”
Under the treaty, signatory states are obliged to declare their nuclear stockpiles and place them under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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