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- Author, Lyse Doucet
- Author's title, International head of correspondents
- Author, Alex Boyd
- Author's title, BBC News
The United States must rule out any new attack against Iran if you want to resume diplomatic conversations, said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Iraní, Majid Takht-Ravanchi.
In an interview with the BBC, he said that the Trump government has communicated to Iran, through mediators, who wishes to return to negotiations, but that “has not made clear its position” about the possibility of new attacks while conversations are held.
The sixth round of negotiations between the two countries, which should be held in Mascate, Oman, on June 15, was frustrated by Israel's military operation that began two days before.
Last weekend, the United States was directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran when it bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Takht-Ravanchi also said that his country will “insist” in the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, rejecting accusations that Tehran is secretly moving towards the development of a nuclear bomb.
The vice minister declared that Iran had “denied access to nuclear material” for his research program, so he should “trust his own means”
“The level can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but say that it should not be enriched, that zero enrichment must be taken, and that if you do not agree, it will be bombed, that is the law of the jungle,” he said.
Israel began its attacks against nuclear and military facilities, as well as against high positions of security and scientific forces, in the early hours of June 13, claiming that Tehran was close to making a nuclear weapon.
Iran replied attacking Israel with missiles. The hostilities continued for 12 days and in the end the United States launched bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahán.
The scope of damages caused to the Iranian nuclear program by US attacks is not clear. Takht-Ravanchi said he could not offer an exact evaluation.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA), said the attacks caused serious damage, but “not total”, while President Donald Trump declared that Iran's nuclear facilities had been “totally destroyed.”
Grossi also said that Iran had the capacity to enrich uranium in “matter of months.” In response, Takht-Ravanchi said he didn't know if that would be the case.
Iran's relationship with the OIEA has become increasingly tense. On Wednesday, his Parliament decided to suspend cooperation with the atomic control agency, accusing the OIEA of standing on Israel and the United States.
Trump has said that “no doubt” would consider bombing will go again if intelligence services discovered that it could enrich uranium to worrying levels.
Takht-Ravanchi said that no date had been agreed for a possible return to the negotiating table and that he did not know what issues they would be, after Trump suggested that the conversations could take place this week.
“At this time we are looking for an answer to this question: are we going to see a repetition of an act of aggression while we are engaging in a dialogue?” Said Iranian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He said that the United States had to be “very clear about this important issue” and “about what it will offer us to generate the necessary trust for such dialogue.”
Image source, Getty Images
When asked if Iran could consider rethinking its nuclear program as part of any agreement, possibly in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and investments in the country, Takht-Ravanchi replied: “Why should we accept such a proposal?”
He reiterated that Iran's program, including 60%uranium enrichment, had “peaceful ends.”
A leadership change?
Under the 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers, Iran could not enrich Uranium above 3.67% purity – the necessary level for the fuel of commercial nuclear power plants – and was not allowed to carry out any enrichment in its fordo plant for 15 years.
However, Trump left the agreement in 2018 during his first government, claiming that it was insufficient to prevent the manufacture of a bomb, and restored US sanctions.
Iran responded increasingly restrictions, in particular those related to enrichment. In 2021 he resumed enrichment in Fordo and, according to OIEA, he had accumulated sufficient enriched uranium at 60% to potentially manufacture nine nuclear bombs.
Asked about the lack of trust of European and Western leaders towards Iran, Takht-Ravanchi accused some European leaders of “ridiculously” supporting the attacks of the United States and Israel.
He said that those who criticize Iran for their nuclear program “should criticize the way we have been treated” and censor those two governments.
“And if they do not have the courage to criticize the United States, they should remain silent, instead of trying to justify the aggression,” he added.
Takht-Ravanchi also said that Iran had received messages through mediators indicating that Whasington “did not want to cause a regime change in Iran” attacking the country's supreme leader, Ayatolá Ali Jamenei.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has asked the Iranians with a “uprising for their freedom” to overthrow the Islamic regime of Jamenei, but, after the high the fire reached last week, Trump said that this was not his goal.
Image source, Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
Takht-Ravanchi insisted that it is something that would not happen and that the idea was “a useless attempt.”
He said that, although some Iranians “could criticize some government actions, when it comes to a foreign aggression, they would join to face.”
The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs said that “it was not entirely clear” if the high fire with Israel would last, but that Iran would continue to respect “as long as there is no military attack against us.”
He added that Iran's Arab allies in the Persian Gulf were “doing everything possible to prepare the necessary environment for dialogue.”
It is known that Qatar has played a key role in the negotiation of the current high fire.
“We do not want war. We want to establish a dialogue and resort to diplomacy, but we have to be prepared, we have to be cautious, so that they are not surprised again,” he added.
The journalist Lyse Doucet is allowed to inform from Iran with the condition that none of her reports is used by the Persian BBC service. This law of the Iranian authorities applies to all international media operating in Iran.
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