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Deputy FM says deal within reach if US ‘sincere’ about talks
Zero enrichment not on agenda anymore: Takht-Ravanchi
“If they are sincere, I’m sure we will be on the road to an agreement,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC in an interview aired on Sunday ahead of the second round of negotiations between Iran and the US, which are scheduled to be held in Geneva on Tuesday.
The senior diplomat stressed that the ball was in the US court to prove that it wanted to do a deal.
The first round of the talks was held in Oman on February 6, which was described as positive by both sides.
Takht-Ravanchi pointed to Tehran’s offer to dilute its 60%-enriched uranium as evidence of its willingness to compromise.
“We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program if they are ready to talk about sanctions,” he said.
As to whether Iran would agree to ship its stockpile of more than 400kg of highly enriched uranium out of Iran, as it did in the 2015 nuclear deal, Takht-Ravanchi said “it is too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations.”
Russia, which accepted 11,000kg of uranium enriched to a low level as part of the 2015 multilateral accord that Trump pulled out of three years later, has offered to accept this material again.
Maximalist demands
One of Iran’s main demands has been that talks should focus only on the nuclear file, and Takht-Ravanchi said: “Our understanding is that they have come to the conclusion that if you want to have a deal you have to focus on the nuclear issue.”
Tehran views Washington’s maximalist demands for zero enrichment as an obstacle to any deal and regards that as a red line and a violation of its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“Zero enrichment is not an issue anymore and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore,” Takht-Ravanchi said. This contradicts comments made by the US President Donald Trump to reporters as recently as Friday that “we don’t want any enrichment.”
The US has also called for talks on Iran’s missile program, which Tehran says is non-negotiable.
“When we were attacked by Israelis and Americans [in June], our missiles came to our rescue so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities,” Takht-Ravanchi said.
The senior diplomat, who is playing a key role in the current talks as he did in the negotiations more than a decade ago, also expressed concern about the American president’s conflicting messages.
“We are hearing that they are interested in negotiations,” he said. “They have said it publicly; they have said it in private conversations through Oman that they are interested to have these matters resolved peacefully.”
But in his latest remarks, Trump focused again on regime change, musing: “It seems that would be the best thing that would happen.”
“We are not hearing that in the private messages,” Takht-Ravanchi observed, referring to the notes being passed through Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi.
US military buildup
Takht-Ravanchi also questioned the US military buildup in the region, warning another war would be “traumatic, bad for everybody… everybody will suffer, particularly those who have initiated this aggression.”
He added; “If we feel this is an existential threat, we will respond accordingly.”
As to whether Iran would regard an American campaign as a battle for survival, he replied: “It is not wise to even think about such a very dangerous scenario because the whole region will be in a mess.”
Iran has repeatedly made it clear that US military bases in the region would be regarded as legitimate targets.