TEHRAN: Iran on Monday expressed its readiness to engage in indirect negotiations with the United States after President Donald Trump had sought talks for a new nuclear deal.
“The way is open for indirect negotiations,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, dismissing the prospect of direct negotiations until there is a change in the other side’s approach towards the Islamic republic”.
He made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Tehran as he elaborated on Iran’s definite position on direct talks with the US.
He added Iran would not engage in direct talks with Washington under threats and maximum pressure policy by Donald Trump.
Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six major powers in his first term and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
On March 7, Trump said that he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urging negotiations and warning of potential military action if Iran refused.
“Our goal and mission is to ensure the national interests and security, which, we will never compromise” the top diplomat said as quoted by IRNA.
Khamenei, however, argued that the US invitation for talks was a tactic to mislead global public opinion by presenting the United States as open to negotiations and Iran as opposed.
Iran’s foreign ministry stated it would conduct a “thorough assessment” before responding to the letter, which was delivered by a senior UAE diplomat on March 12.
Trump, who returned to the White House for a second term in January, has restored his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran.
In his New Persian Year speech on March 21, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned the United States against using the language of threats against Iran.
The Americans should know that in dealing with Iran, they can never get anywhere using threats, the Leader added.
Araghchi on Thursday said Trump’s letter was “more of a threat”, but added that it could also open up some opportunities and that Tehran would respond soon.
“Under these conditions, it is no longer possible to enter into talks with America. Unless certain approaches change,” Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.
Tehran and Washington had severe diplomatic ties after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed Shah.
Since then, the Swiss embassy in Tehran has facilitated communications between the two nations.
