No nuclear talks if US insists on abandoning enrichment: Iran

TEHRAN: Iran will not take part in talks with the United States over its nuclear programme if Washington insists Tehran abandon uranium enrichment, an adviser to the Islamic republic’s supreme leader said Monday.

“If the negotiations must be conditioned on stopping enrichment, such negotiations will not take place,” adviser Ali Velayati was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

‘No specific date’ 

Iran also said earlier in the day that it had “no specific date” for a meeting with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear programme, following a war with Israel that had derailed negotiations.

“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei of plans for a meeting between Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Araghchi and Witkoff met starting in April, without concluding a deal after five rounds of talks that were the highest-level contact between their two countries since Washington in 2018 abandoned a landmark nuclear agreement.

The Omani-mediated negotiations were halted as Israel launched surprise strikes on the nuclear facilities of its staunch enemy Iran on June 13, starting a 12-day war which the United States later joined.

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“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,” said Baqaei.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement later 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.”