Iranian foreign minister said Tehran is willing to discuss trust-building mechanisms to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on May 10 that his country will not completely relinquish its nuclear program in the face of U.S. pressure.
Speaking in Doha on Saturday, Araqchi said that if the goal of negotiations is to create new trust-building mechanisms to ensure Iran’s nuclear aspirations remain peaceful, then Tehran is open to a deal.
“But if the goal of the negotiations is to deprive Iran of its nuclear rights, I state clearly that Iran will not back down from any of its rights,” Araqchi said.
President Donald Trump, in April, launched talks aimed at compelling Iran to enter into a new agreement restraining its nuclear development. Tehran has insisted it’s not seeking nuclear weapons, but negotiators are haggling over what nuclear development Iran can continue to pursue.
In an interview with NBC News’s “Meet The Press” that aired on May 4, Trump called for the “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program. Commenting on the idea of Iran pursuing nuclear energy, Trump said, “They have so much oil, what do they need it for?”
Trump again discussed Iran’s nuclear program during a May 7 interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, and said Iran has to choose whether it will dismantle its nuclear facilities as part of a deal, or as the result of a military action.
“There are only two alternatives there—blow them up nicely or blow them up viciously,” the president said.
Araqchi has participated in two initial rounds of indirect talks with U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and a more in-depth third round of technical talks on April 26. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi represented Iran’s technical team, and U.S. State Department Policy Director Michael Anton represented the U.S. technical team at this third round of talks.
Iranian and U.S. negotiators were due to hold a fourth round of talks in Oman on May 3 but Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced the meeting had to be postponed due to unspecified logistical reasons.
By Ryan Morgan
