Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the leadership in Tehran could be open to talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
“If the main concern is that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons, then that is achievable,” Araghchi said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran.
Trump issued a presidential memorandum on Tuesday that ordered his administration to place “maximum pressure” on Iran, with measures including new sanctions and tougher enforcement of existing ones.
However, he also suggested a willingness to work out a deal.
“We don’t want to be tough on Iran. We don’t want to be tough on anybody.
“But they just can’t have a nuclear bomb,” Trump had said.
Responding to those comments, Araghchi said that Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy had not worked in his first term and that a new attempt was also “doomed to failure.”
But while Araghchi hinted at the possibility of talks with Washington, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref was more cautious.
Aref said a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was not at all on the agenda.
Trump re-entered the White House as the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme has heated up.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Iran plans to increase the number of its centrifuges and expand the infrastructure for uranium enrichment.
However, the government in Tehran states that it does not seek nuclear weapons.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to a purity level of 60 per cent but according to experts, a level of over 90 per cent is required for nuclear weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who enjoys a warm relationship with Trump, has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. (dpa/NAN)
