Latest news with #national pride
Times of Oman
7 days ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
"We cannot give up our enrichment": FM Araghchi says Iran open to talks
Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment programme despite significant damage caused by recent US and Israeli airstrikes, calling the programme a matter of "national pride", Al Jazeera reported. "It is now stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe, but obviously, we cannot give up our enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists, and now, more than that, it is a question of national pride," Araghchi told US broadcaster Fox News in an interview aired on Monday. Araghchi also signaled Iran's willingness to re-engage in diplomacy, saying Iran is "open to talks" with the United States, though not directly "for the time being." According to Al Jazeera, he stated, "If they [the US] are coming for a win-win solution, I am ready to engage with them." "We are ready to do any confidence-building measure needed to prove that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever, and Iran would never go for nuclear weapons, and in return, we expect them to lift their sanctions," the minister added. "So, my message to the United States is that let's go for a negotiated solution for Iran's nuclear programme," Araghchi said, according to Al Jazeera. He also emphasised that there is still a diplomatic path forward: "There is a negotiated solution for our nuclear programme. We have done it once in the past. We are ready to do it once again." As Al Jazeera reported, talks between Tehran and Washington on the nuclear programme were underway earlier this year, following years of tension since Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal had allowed for extensive international monitoring of Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. However, recent developments have strained relations further. On June 13, Israel launched a series of surprise bombing raids targeting Iran's military and nuclear facilities, which led to the deaths of more than 900 people in Iran and at least 28 in Israel before a ceasefire was established on June 24. The US also joined in the attacks, and the Pentagon later said it had set back Iran's nuclear programme by one to two years. Al Jazeera noted that Araghchi said Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation is still assessing the damage to enriched materials and will "soon inform" the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings. "We have not stopped our cooperation with the agency," he claimed, though he added that any request for IAEA inspectors would be "carefully considered." Inspectors had previously exited Iran after President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA. According to Al Jazeera, Iranian officials accused the IAEA of bias following a resolution passed by its board on June 12, which accused Tehran of non-compliance with nuclear obligations. Iran has said this resolution was one of the "excuses" Israel used to justify its military strikes. Meanwhile, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric welcomed "dialogue between the Europeans and the Iranians," referring to planned talks between Iran, France, Germany, and the UK in Turkiye on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.
Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Iran to resume nuclear programme as a matter of ‘national pride'
Iran will resume its nuclear programme as a matter of 'national pride', its foreign minister said on Monday. Abbas Araghchi conceded that uranium enrichment had been halted by the US bombing of three main facilities a month ago after a breakdown in talks with Washington and targeted killings of nuclear scientists by Israel. But he said that this was a temporary hiatus and the regime in Tehran remained committed to nuclear development, as well as to the production of more missiles. 'Our enrichment is so dear to us,' Araghchi told Fox News's Special Report with Bret Baier. 'It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up on enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists,' he said. 'Now, more than that, it is a question of national pride.' Araghchi would not be drawn on the extent of the destruction caused when US stealth bombers dropped 12 'bunker buster' Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs on the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, and two more on the Natanz Nuclear Facility on June 22. The Isfahan Nuclear Technology Centre was targeted by Tomahawk missiles fired from a submarine. 'Our facilities have been damaged — seriously damaged,' Araghchi said. 'The extent of which is now under evaluation by our atomic energy organisation. But as far as I know, they are seriously damaged.' President Trump said that the strikes 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities. Araghchi said Iran was not ready for direct talks with the US but eventually wanted a negotiated solution allowing it to continue civil nuclear power enrichment. 'We are ready to do any confidence-building measure needed to prove that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful and would remain peaceful for ever and Iran would never go for nuclear weapons,' he said. 'In return, we expect them to lift their sanctions. This is a win-win game and we are ready to engage in that. We cannot start these negotiations in a direct way. We still prefer indirect negotiations.' Pushed on why Iran kept enriching towards the higher levels required for nuclear weapons, Araghchi added: 'We remain committed to below 5 per cent to produce fuel for nuclear power plants and we also enriched up to 20 per cent because we have a research reactor in Tehran … so we are enriching uranium for our own needs. 'We once went up to 60 per cent and that was after the sabotage in our nuclear facilities … I was a negotiator at that time. I told our interlocutors that we immediately go down if a nuclear deal is achieved.' He said Iran's main nuclear site was buried deep underground not because it was sinister but to protect it from attack. Its missile programme was in 'good shape', he insisted, despite being targeted by numerous Israeli attacks in June. 'Our missiles are our most reliable means of defence. So we continue our missile programme,' he said. 'Right now, it's still in a very good shape. We still have a good number of missiles to defend ourselves.' Araghchi said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader who is rarely seen in public, was 'in very good health' and that 'the whole system in Iran is quite stable and strong'. He denied allegations that Iran was seeking the assassination of Trump or other leading US officials in revenge for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in 2020. 'Maybe some individuals here or there have said things like that but that has never been Iran's official position,' Araghchi said. Asked about Khamenei's statement in 2019 that the chant of 'Death to America' 'means death to Trump', Araghchi said: 'The supreme leader and other officials in Iran have always said that death to America is in fact death to the hegemonic policies of the United States, not to the people of the United States … This is not our policy to kill anybody outside Iran, let alone the president of another country.' Prosecutors in Manhattan have said that the IRGC commissioned the assassination of Trump last September from an Afghan man who emigrated to the US as a child. Christopher Wray, the FBI director at the time, said Iran 'has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on US soil and that simply won't be tolerated'. Araghchi also referred to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis as 'freedom fighters … for a just cause'. Asked if this included wiping out Israel, he said: 'Well, we have never said that … that is up to them. They are fighting for their own homeland, so they may say anything. But this has never been Iran's policy, to wipe out Israel from the map.' Iran faces further international sanctions if it fails to reach a nuclear agreement by the end of August, with talks due to be held with officials from Britain, France and Germany on Friday. Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme is solely meant for civilian purposes, while the US said it struck because it feared Iran was days or weeks away from being able to construct a nuclear weapon.
Al Jazeera
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran's FM says nuclear enrichment will continue, but open to talks
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that Tehran cannot give up on its uranium enrichment programme, which was severely damaged by waves of US and Israeli air strikes last month. 'It is now stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe, but obviously, we cannot give up our enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists, and now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,' Araghchi told the US broadcaster Fox News in an interview aired on Monday. Araghchi said at the beginning of the interview that Iran is 'open to talks' with the United States, but that they would not be direct talks 'for the time being'. 'If they [the US] are coming for a win-win solution, I am ready to engage with them,' he said. 'We are ready to do any confidence-building measure needed to prove that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever, and Iran would never go for nuclear weapons, and in return, we expect them to lift their sanctions,' the foreign minister added. 'So, my message to the United States is that let's go for a negotiated solution for Iran's nuclear programme.' Araghchi's comments were part of a 16-minute interview aired on Fox News, a broadcaster known to be closely watched by US President Donald Trump. 'There is a negotiated solution for our nuclear programme. We have done it once in the past. We are ready to do it once again,' Araghchi said. Tehran and Washington had been holding talks on the nuclear programme earlier this year, seven years after Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Tehran signed with several world powers in 2015. Under the pact, Iran opened the country's nuclear sites to comprehensive international inspection in return for the lifting of sanctions. Trump's decision to pull the US out of the deal came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of pursuing a 'secret nuclear programme'. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear enrichment programme is strictly for civilian purposes. The US and Iran engaged in talks as recently as May to reach a new deal, but those negotiations broke down when Israel launched surprise bombing raids across Iran on June 13, targeting military and nuclear sites. More than 900 people were killed in Iran, and at least 28 people were killed in Israel before a ceasefire took hold on June 24. The US also joined Israel in attacking Iranian nuclear facilities, with the Pentagon later claiming it had set back the country's nuclear programme by one to two years. Araghchi said on Monday that Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation is still evaluating how the attacks had affected Iran's enriched material, adding that they will 'soon inform' the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings. He said any request for the IAEA to send inspectors would be 'carefully considered'. 'We have not stopped our cooperation with the agency,' he claimed. IAEA inspectors left Iran after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA earlier this month. Tehran had sharply criticised the IAEA and its chief, Rafael Grossi, over a June 12 resolution passed by the IAEA board accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations. Iranian officials said the resolution was among the 'excuses' that Israel used as a pretext to launch its attacks, which began on June 13 and lasted for 12 days. Speaking to journalists earlier on Monday, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general, said that the UN welcomed renewed 'dialogue between the Europeans and the Iranians', referring to talks set to take place between Iran, France, Germany and the United Kingdom in Turkiye on Friday. The three European parties to the former JCPOA agreement have said that Tehran's failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.
