Iran says it’s open to nuclear talks with US if pressure campaign dropped

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has not ruled out talks with Washington, but says they can only take place if both countries are on “equal terms,” an Iranian state-run newspaper reports.

US President Donald Trump said last week 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 is quoted saying.

“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.”

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.