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FM spox says US cognizant of Iran’s red lines on uranium enrichment
Baqaei: Tehran ready for compromises to reach agreement
Iran is open to compromises on its nuclear program in talks with the United States, but uranium enrichment remains non-negotiable, Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson told CNN, indicating Washington understands this position.
“If the intention is to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program would not be weaponized, I think that’s something that we could simply do,” Esmaeil Baqaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said in Tehran on Monday.
Asked by CNN how a compromise can be reached in talks, Baqaei said, “So many ways” without specifying.
However, he added that Iran’s right to nuclear energy would have to be protected, echoing the long-standing Iranian position on talks.
“If the (US’) intention is to deprive Iranians of their right to peaceful nuclear energy, I think that would be very problematic to the extent that I think it would really challenge the whole process,” he added.
After US-Iran talks inched forward with the fifth round of negotiations in Rome on Friday, US President Donald Trump voiced optimism Sunday that progress was being made.
“We had some very good talks with Iran yesterday and today, and let’s see what happens. But I think we could have some good news on the Iran front,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey as he was preparing to return to Washington.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the talks “one of the most professional rounds of negotiations” yet but said the key issues were “too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings.”
While the Trump administration has been insisting on its demand that Tehran end all uranium enrichment, Baqaei said US negotiators’ behavior in talks suggests a softer approach.
“The fact that so far we have continued our talks means that we understand there is a certain level of understanding that Iran cannot under any circumstances give up its right to peaceful nuclear energy,” he said.
Baqaei was optimistic about the chances of a US-Iranian accord, foreseeing a “win-win” for both sides. “If really there is a will, there’s ways,” he said. “There is not only one way, there are so many ways.”
Multiple American officials told CNN last week that the US has obtained new intelligence suggesting that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities even as the Trump administration pursues a diplomatic deal with Tehran.
Baqaei said Iran was resolute before the threat of unilateral Israeli military strikes on Iran.
“Iranians would not be bowing to any sort of pressure,” he said. “When it comes to using that language, Iranians will come with one voice, and we will certainly defend our national security.”
Iran has promised to respond forcefully to any Israeli attack, and accused Israel’s prime minister of working to undermine US diplomacy.
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has said she delivered a message from Trump to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the two countries should be aligned on how to approach Iran.
“President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation with the prime minister about how those negotiations are going and how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out,” she said after a visit to Israel on Monday.
Noem said Trumps wants Netanyahu “to be on the same page with him.”