Tehran: Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Majid Takht Ravanchi, has said that the United States must rule out the possibility of any further attacks on Iran before nuclear negotiations can resume.
In an interview with the BBC, Ravanchi revealed that the Trump administration, through intermediaries, had conveyed its desire to restart direct talks with Tehran. However, he emphasized that Washington has not clarified its position on what he termed a “crucial question”: whether the U.S. would refrain from military action while negotiations are ongoing.
Talks between the two countries had reached their sixth round before being halted following Israeli strikes that began on June 13. The diplomatic process, hosted in Muscat, Oman, came to a standstill as regional tensions escalated.
The situation further deteriorated on June 22, when the U.S. directly entered the conflict between Iran, Israel, and itself by targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities in coordinated airstrikes. This marked a major escalation in the ongoing military confrontation.
Ravanchi reaffirmed Iran’s stance that it will insist on retaining the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. He categorically denied allegations that Iran is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.
While no specific date has been set for the resumption of negotiations, Ravanchi said that Iran has not been informed about the agenda either.
U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier stated that talks with Iran could restart later this week. He reiterated that Iran should be denied access to nuclear materials that could aid in weapons development, claiming such access had been previously restricted.
Responding to this, Ravanchi said there could be room for discussion on the extent to which Iran might enrich uranium. “But to say you are not allowed to enrich uranium at all, to demand zero enrichment, and to threaten bombing if we disagree—this is not diplomacy, this is the law of the jungle,” he said.
