Tehran on Wednesday accused Washington of seeking through diplomacy what it failed to achieve with military strikes, suggesting that talks with the United States have not yet reached a “mature stage.”
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the US wants to ensure Iran’s nuclear activities are completely disabled, and is pressing Tehran to sign a binding agreement since that has not happened.
“One of our problems, both during previous negotiations and now, is that we have not heard a coherent statement from the Americans. Their statements constantly change, and the messages we receive are contradictory,” Araghchi said.
“Sometimes the messages differ from each other, and sometimes they differ from the interviews. I think perhaps the Americans have not yet reached a final conclusion and may be caught up in other issues,” he added.
Iran’s national security chief Ali Larijani said last week that talks with the US are possible, but only if aimed at a genuine resolution.
Negotiations under the Trump administration began with a 60-day ultimatum to Iran.
On the 61st day, June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign. Less than two weeks later, on June 24, the United States struck three major nuclear sites in Esfahan, Fordow, and Natanz, claiming Iran’s facilities had been “obliterated.”
Strained relations with watchdog
Araghchi said Tehran is also negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stressing that unless Iran withdraws from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, cooperation will continue.
“We cannot completely cut off cooperation with the Agency,” he added. “In about a month, it’s time to replace the fuel at the Bushehr power plant, and this must be done in the presence of Agency inspectors.”
But that would not mean a return to pre-war arrangements, he stressed quickly.
“This new cooperation with the Agency will definitely not be like before, especially since, according to parliament’s law, all matters must go through the Supreme National Security Council, which decides where and how inspections will take place, or whether they will happen at all.”
UN sanctions looming
Araghchi also warned that UN “snapback” sanctions could return but said Tehran is working with Russia and China to prepare for such a scenario.
“For several years, we’ve been working with China and Russia on this issue. We’ve held numerous joint meetings and designed a set of joint measures to implement if snapback is triggered,” he said.
The snapback mechanism, part of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, allows any party to restore sanctions if Iran is accused of non-compliance.
France, the UK and Germany have warned Iran they will restore UN measures unless talks resume and produce results by the end of August.
“Regarding solutions to ultimately prevent snapback, discussions have taken place among our three countries, and we have some measures in mind, though we may not succeed,” Iran’s foreign minister said.
