Iran says willing to resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, "assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war."
Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, "first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations."
Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which led to the departure of inspectors. Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran's cooperation with the IAEA "has not stopped, but will take on a new form," after the Islamic Republic formally ended cooperation with the UN watchdog in early July.
Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency's request for cooperation "case by case," based on Iran's interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's "security" concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. "The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious," he said.
Araghchi stressed that any new nuclear deal must uphold Iran's right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. "I would like to emphasize that in any negotiated solution, the rights of the Iranian people on the nuclear issue, including the right to enrichment, must be respected," he said. "We will not have any agreement in which enrichment is not included." US President Donald Trump has insisted that this cannot happen.
Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the IAEA had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview published Monday, said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.
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