‘US must rule out more strikes before new talks,' says Iran minister amid Israel-Iran ceasefire
The United States must eliminate any possibility of further strikes on Iran if it wants to resume diplomatic talks, Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said amid a ceasefire in hostilities between Israel and Iran announced last week, which was brokered by US President Donald Trump and Qatar.
Ravanchi said that the Trump administration conveyed its message to Tehran via mediators that it wants to return to the negotiation table regarding Iran's nuclear program but had 'not made their position clear' on the 'very important question' as talks take place between the two countries, reported BBC.
In the last couple of months, the US and Iran have had at least five rounds of mainly indirect talks regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and the sanctions imposed by Washington. The sixth round of talks were scheduled to take place on June 15 in Muscat but Israel launched its offensive against Tehran on June 13 and the plan for further talks were foiled.
The United States also got directly involved in the conflict between Tel Aviv and Tehran, when its 125 military aircrafts, including B-2 Stealth bombers dropped bombs and targeted three Iranian nuclear sites, namely Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. America codenamed the operation as 'Midnight Hammer'.
Ravanchi reiterated Iran's stance of allowing to enrich uranium as they are for 'peaceful purposes' and rejected the accusations of the West that Tehran was secretly developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran's deputy foreign minister said 'The level of that can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but to say that you should not have enrichment, you should have zero enrichment, and if you do not agree, we will bomb you, that is the law of the jungle,' BBC reported.
The extent of damage to Iran's nuclear program due to strikes by the US and Israel remains unclear and the minister refused to give an exact assessment of the situation.
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The Hindu
an hour ago
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U.S. must rule out more strikes before talks can resume: Iran
Diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran cannot resume unless the U.S. rules out further strikes on Iran, its deputy Foreign Minister told the BBC late on Sunday (June 29, 2025). Mr. Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the British broadcaster that the U.S. had signalled it wants to return to the negotiating table, a week after it struck three Iranian nuclear facilities. 'We have not agreed to any date, we have not agreed to the modality,' said Mr. Takht-Ravanchi. 'Right now we are seeking an answer to this question. Are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in dialogue?' The U.S. needed to be 'quite clear on this very important question', he said. The two countries were in talks over Tehran's nuclear programme when Israel hit Iranian nuclear sites and military infrastructure earlier this month, with the U.S. joining by bombing three nuclear sites — Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — on June 21. The deputy minister revealed to the BBC that the U.S. had signalled it did 'not want to engage in regime change' by targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. also said Iran should still be allowed to enrich uranium. 'The level of that can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but to say that you should not have enrichment, you should have zero enrichment, and if you do not agree, we will bomb you, that is the law of the jungle,' he said. Israel claims that Iran's nuclear programme is close to producing a bomb, whereas Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes. It is not clear yet how much damage the strikes inflicted on Iran's nuclear facilities, which U.S. President Donald Trump had said were 'totally obliterated'. U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran would probably be able to begin to produce enriched uranium 'in a matter of months'. Mr. Takht-Ravanchi said he did not know how long it would take. Under a 2015 deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium below 3.67% purity for fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Mr. Trump abandoned the agreement in 2018 and Iran responded by producing uranium enriched to 60% — above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade. That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs.
