Iran says no dialogue with Washington under pressure

TEHERAN — Iran cannot negotiate directly with the United States under existing conditions of "maximum pressure", the country's foreign minister said on Sunday, dismissing the prospect of reviving a 2015 nuclear agreement in its original form.

Seyyed Abbas Araghchi criticized the US sanctions and said Teheran would not engage in talks while under intense economic restrictions, sanctions and other threats.

"No wise individual will enter direct negotiations under circumstances where maximum pressure exists," he told Iran's Khabar Online news agency.

Iran has received a letter from US President Donald Trump addressed to its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and is considering a reply rejecting direct talks with the US under pressure given Washington's past perfidy, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

"We have negotiated many times, including very recently," Araghchi said. "Our ongoing talks with the three European countries are, in fact, something of an indirect negotiation over our nuclear program.

"The format of negotiations is always relevant in diplomatic relations, whether the two sides talk directly or indirectly. For now, our tactic and method is to have indirect negotiations.

"In circumstances where there is 'maximum pressure', no one in their sound mind would enter into direct talks."

The United States, under the first term of Trump, withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, that Iran signed with world powers in July 2015.

Araghchi, one of Iran's chief negotiators in the JCPOA talks, said reviving the deal in its "current form and text" was no longer feasible. He cited Iran's advances in nuclear capabilities since the US withdrawal in 2018 and more sanctions by the other party.

"The JCPOA, in its current form, cannot be revived in my opinion," he said. "They have set many new sanctions and the conditions have changed."

Peaceful activities

Although Iran has scaled back compliance with the JCPOA in response to renewed US sanctions, Araghchi reiterated that Teheran's nuclear activities remain peaceful.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman and deputy chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Sunday that Iran is firm and resolute in preserving its rights.

Iran's nuclear program has undergone the harshest nuclear inspections and no other country is as much under inspection as Iran, Kamalvandi was cited by Mehr as saying. He objected to the claim that Iran is carrying out "unpeaceful nuclear activities".

Kamalvandi reaffirmed Iran's readiness to return to its commitments if its rights are not ignored, Mehr reported.

Mike Gu in Hong Kong contributed to this story.

Xinhua