Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, a source has told state-affiliated Fars news agency.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, a source has told state-affiliated Fars news agency.
The source said that US-Iran talks will be strictly within the framework of the nuclear issue.
The development has come at a time when US President Donald Trump has sent an armada towards Iran amid near-daily threats. He has also stationed additional warplanes in the region in a military build-up that appears to mirror the build-up in the run-up to the last month’s American invasion of Venezuela.
The news about Pezeshkian ordering the start of nuclear talks with the Trump administration has come hours after the Iranian foreign ministry said the regime was studying proposals for nuclear talks in the coming days. It said the two sides have exchanged through regional countries acting as intermediaries.
So far, Iran and the United States have held five rounds of talks. On the eve of the sixth round, the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan last year in the midst of ‘12 Day War’ with Israel.
In his latest threat to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran, Trump on Sunday said that “we have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there, very close, couple of days, and hopefully we’ll make a deal”.
“We don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right,” said Trump when asked about Khamenei’s warning that any American attack would lead to a regional war.
Last week, Trump warned Iran of a Venezuela-like fate if it would not make a deal.
“Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal —NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS— one that is good for all parties,” said Trump in a social media post.
At a press conference, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaeis on Monday said that Iran was carefully studying the structure of potential negotiations with the United States with a focus on lifting sanctions and advancing national interests, according to Tasnim news agency.
When asked specifically about potential talks in Turkey, Baqaei said Iran was currently examining the general and specific elements of advancing the diplomatic process but cautioned that the United States had previously “exploited” negotiations.
When asked about objectives of proposed, Baqaei said that removal of “unjust” sanctions was the top priority. He said that removal of sanctions would serve as a confidence-building measure to arrive at a solution regarding the regime’s nuclear programme.
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