Diplomacy is possible if talks are “free of threats and unreasonable expectations,” President Masoud Pezeshkian has said
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. © Getty Images / Anadolu / Contributor
[RT] Iran
has signaled a willingness to pursue diplomacy with the United States,
while stressing that any dialogue must be free of pressure and respect
Tehran’s stated position on its nuclear program.
Tensions have run
high since the US struck nuclear facilities in Iran last June, and
spiked amid the widespread anti-government protests which gripped the
country in December and January. In recent weeks, Washington has
deployed an ‘armada’ led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to
the Middle East, demanding that any potential deal limit uranium
enrichment and restrict Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
The Islamic Republic maintains its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
Russia
has repeatedly said it believes the Iranian nuclear issue should be
resolved through political and diplomatic means. The Kuwaiti newspaper
Al-Jarida reported last week that intervention by Moscow and Ankara had
diminished the likelihood of a US attack on Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X on Tuesday that he had instructed his country’s foreign minister to “prepare the ground for fair and equitable negotiations” if a suitable environment, “free from threats and unreasonable expectations,” emerges.
Ali
Shamkhani, adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
similarly added that Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons. Speaking to
the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen late on Monday, he said any talks
with the US would initially be indirect, and only proceed to direct
negotiations if a deal appeared attainable.
Shamkhani added that Washington “must offer something in return” if Iran were to reduce uranium enrichment.
According
to multiple media reports, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi could meet in Istanbul later this week,
alongside representatives from several Arab and Muslim countries, to
discuss a possible deal.
This would be the first high-level US-Iran
contact since last April, shortly before the June bombing of Iranian
nuclear and missile sites.
Despite the threats of new military action, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he hopes “we make a deal”
with Iran. Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord, known as
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018 and reimposed sanctions,
prompting Tehran to gradually scale back compliance and enrich uranium
to 60% purity.