Iran says it is willing to resume stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States — but only if it receives firm guarantees that no further military strikes will be carried out against its territory.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the remarks on Saturday during a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran, according to state media.
He stated that Iran has always been open to dialogue on its nuclear program but warned that renewed talks must not pave the way to further conflict.
“There must be a clear guarantee that resuming negotiations will not lead to war,” Araghchi said, pointing to the recent 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear and military facilities and a U.S. airstrike on June 22. “These attacks have made diplomatic solutions more complex and difficult.”
In response to the strikes, Iran halted its cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), leading to the withdrawal of its inspectors. Araghchi said that going forward, any IAEA requests would be assessed individually based on Iran’s national interests.
He also stressed that future inspections must take into account both Iran’s security and the safety of inspectors, citing risks such as leftover war munitions and radioactive materials.
The foreign minister reaffirmed Iran’s right to enrich uranium on its own soil — a key point of contention with the U.S., which under former President Donald Trump demanded a complete halt to enrichment. Israel, which carried out recent strikes, claims Iran was on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon.
However, U.S. intelligence and the IAEA have maintained that Iran has not had an active nuclear weapons program since 2003. Still, Iran’s enrichment activities, which have reached up to 60% purity, are close to the 90% needed for weapons-grade material.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a separate interview published Monday, said the U.S. airstrikes caused such severe damage that Iranian officials have yet to fully access or evaluate the affected nuclear sites.
