Iran says it’s ready to negotiate with US, but not under ‘maximum pressure’ policy
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says negotiations to ease sanctions under current US terms would be a ‘form of surrender’
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran is ready to negotiate a new nuclear agreement with the United States but not under the “maximum pressure” strategy of US President Donald Trump, Tehran’s chief diplomat suggested on Saturday.
“The lifting of sanctions requires negotiations, but not within the framework of a ‘maximum pressure’ policy, because it would not be a negotiation but a form of surrender,” said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a statement published on Telegram.
The foreign minister’s statement came after Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the government on Friday not to negotiate with Washington, calling such an approach “reckless.”
Khamenei, who has the final say on all strategic decisions in Iran, referred to Iran’s previous experience negotiating with the United States to justify his position, saying that negotiations with the US “are not intelligent, wise or honorable.”
In 2015, Iran struck a landmark deal with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia to regulate its nuclear program in return for the easing of international sanctions.
However, in 2018, during his first term, Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and reinstated heavy sanctions on Tehran, despite European opposition, crippling the country’s economy.
Trump on Wednesday called for a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with Iran, adding that it “cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop atomic weapons. However, the UN nuclear watchdog has said that Iran is currently enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian use, and Iran’s leaders have for many years been issuing threats to flatten entire Israeli cities.
The US president reinstated on Tuesday his “maximum pressure” policy, and Washington on Thursday announced financial sanctions on entities and individuals accused of shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian crude oil to China.
Aragchi said on Saturday that “Iran does not want to negotiate with a country that is simultaneously imposing new sanctions.”
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
