Iran’s top diplomat: Nuclear talks with US only possible on ‘equal terms’
Iranian FM says Tehran will achieve ‘nothing’ if it negotiates while under ‘maximum pressure’ from US, after Khamenei spurns Trump’s letter offering talks
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has not ruled out talks with Washington, but said they can only take place if both countries are on “equal terms,” an Iranian state-run newspaper reported on Thursday.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said he had sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing nuclear talks, but also warned that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal.”
“If we enter negotiations while the other side is imposing maximum pressure, we will be negotiating from a weak position and will achieve nothing,” Araghchi told the Iran paper in an interview.
“The other side must be convinced that the policy of pressure is ineffective — only then can we sit at the negotiating table on equal terms.”
Khamenei said on Wednesday that talks with the Trump administration would simply “tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran.”
In 2018, under Trump’s first presidency, the US withdrew from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. Tehran reacted a year later by violating the deal’s nuclear curbs.
Khamenei, who has the final word in Iranian state matters, said last week that Tehran would not be bullied into talks.
While leaving the door open for a nuclear pact with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports towards zero.
Iran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, has jumped, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late last month.
Iran is sworn to Israel’s destruction, and Israel has threatened to attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to contain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Last year, Israel struck Iranian facilities including missile factories and air defenses in retaliation for Iranian missile and drone attacks. That reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, according to analysts and US officials, an assessment disputed by Tehran.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
