Skip to main content

Iran says ready for nuclear talks if West is ‘serious’

Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme if Western countries show they are “serious”, the foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying in an interview published on Thursday.

“We have said several times that we are ready for discussions, but only if the other side is serious about this,” Esmaeil Baqaei said.

Tehran has signalled to the West several times recently indicating a willingness to reach an agreement over its nuclear programme.

In an interview with Sky News posted to his official Telegram channel on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the new US administration should work to win back Tehran’s trust if it wants a new round of nuclear talks.

In Thursday’s interview, Baqaei expressed hope that new US President Donald Trump would adopt a “realistic approach” towards Iran.

During his first term which ended in 2021, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure”, withdrawing the United States from a landmark nuclear deal which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

Asked about the possibility of new talks, Baqaei was quoted on Thursday as saying Iran’s policy would depend on “the actions of the other parties”.

Tehran adhered to the deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — until a year after Washington’s withdrawal in 2018, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear pact have since faltered.

Iran has repeatedly expressed willingness to revive the nuclear deal, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office last July, has called for an end to his country’s isolation.

Before Trump’s return to the White House, Iranian officials held nuclear talks with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany that both sides described as “frank and constructive”.

In December, the three Western governments accused Tehran of growing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification” and discussed the possible reimposition of sanctions.

On Thursday, Baqaei warned that if this happened, Iran’s adherence to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty “would no longer have any meaning”.

Under the NPT, signatory states are obliged to declare their nuclear stockpiles and place them under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/sQRMAg6
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more