The Trump administration remains open to talks with Tehran, the White House said on Monday, as Iran and Washington’s European allies prepare for a new round of nuclear negotiations on Friday — without the United States.
“I understand that the administration continues to be open to talks with Iran if we deem them necessary,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Leavitt also said that the US airstrikes on Iran's atomic sites last month "obliterated their nuclear capability."
On June 22, the US carried out airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The full extent of the damage remains unclear. Assessments continue to conflict, and Iranian authorities have not released a comprehensive evaluation.
Speaking to Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said multiple enrichment sites had been “severely and seriously damaged,” though he said the extent of the impact is still being assessed by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.
The US operation, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer by President Trump, involved B-2 stealth bombers armed with 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators—so-called “bunker busters” designed to penetrate fortified underground facilities. The US strikes followed an earlier Israeli offensive known as Operation Rising Lion.
Iran won't give up enrichment
Araghchi told Fox News that the country will not abandon its uranium enrichment program, calling it both a scientific achievement and a matter of national pride.
“Our enrichment is so dear to us,” he said. “Obviously we cannot give up our enrichment, because it is an achievement of our own scientists and now more than that, it is a question of national pride.”
Iran’s uranium enrichment program has long been a source of international tension. While Tehran maintains that the program is for peaceful purposes, the UN nuclear watchdog argues that enriching uranium to high levels of purity lacks any civilian justification.
