 "'Uranium enrichment one of our red lines’: Iran rules out conditional nuclear talks with US")
Iran will not engage in nuclear talks with the United States if Washington demands an end to Tehran’s uranium enrichment, a senior adviser to the country’s supreme leader said Monday.
“We have no objection to negotiations that are held without preconditions and that respect the Islamic Republic’s red lines,” IRNA quoted adviser Ali Velayati as saying.
“They say Iran must abandon uranium enrichment, but this is one of our red lines. If talks are conditional on halting enrichment, they simply won’t happen," he added.
Velayati, adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, made the remarks during a meeting with Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on Monday.
Washington and Tehran had held multiple rounds of negotiations aimed at reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, but the talks were disrupted after Israel launched a series of surprise strikes on Iran, triggering 12 days of conflict.
Since the ceasefire, both sides have expressed interest in resuming dialogue, though Tehran maintains it will not give up its right to peaceful nuclear energy.
Earlier, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran had not set a date for any meeting with the United States.
“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” AFP quoted Baqaei as saying of plans for a meeting between Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Araghchi and Witkoff had previously engaged in five rounds of high-level talks — the most senior contact between the US and Iran since Washington exited the landmark 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 — but failed to reach an agreement.
The Oman-brokered negotiations were suspended after Israel launched a surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, with the US later joining the offensive with limited strikes in support of its ally.
“We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran,” Baqaei was quoted as saying.
Impact Shorts
View AllPresident Masoud Pezeshkian echoed support for dialogue, saying on Monday that Iran “supports diplomacy and constructive engagement.”
“We continue to believe that the window for diplomacy remains open, and we will seriously pursue this peaceful path,” AFP quoted him as saying.
Israel and Western governments have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran continues to deny.
With inputs from agencies
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