From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Iran says it needs time before talks with US, can start enriching again quickly
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says it will take time and assurances from the US before Tehran is ready to re-engage in talks on its nuclear program, insisting that the country will soon be ready to start enriching uranium again and “make up for lost time.”
“I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,” Araghchi is quoted telling CBS News through a translator, though he adds that diplomacy is not off the table.
“In order for us to decide to reengage, we will have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations,” Araghchi adds. “And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time.”
Speaking to a US outlet for the first time since Israel halted 12 days of bombings aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, Araghchi claims that the campaign, which included destroying centrifuge facilities and assassinating nuclear scientists, did not achieve its goal.
“One cannot obliterate the technology and science for enrichment through bombings,” Araghchi says. “If there is this will on our part, and the will exists in order to once again make progress in this industry, we will be able to expeditiously repair the damages and make up for the lost time.”
He appears to indicate that the military conflict only hardened Iran’s resolve to continue enriching uranium.
Iran’s “peaceful nuclear program has turned into a matter of national pride and glory,” he says. “We have also gone through 12 days of imposed war, therefore, people will not easily back down from enrichment.”
Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but has long enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, and according to Israel, had recently taken steps toward weaponization.
The Times of Israel Community.