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TEHRAN – Iran is ready to consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S. if the Americans are willing to discuss lifting sanctions, a senior Iranian diplomat has told the BBC.<\/p>\n
U.S. officials have repeatedly claimed that Iran, not the U.S., is holding up progress in this protracted negotiating process.<\/p>\n
But in an interview with the BBC in Tehran, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said the ball was “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal”, adding: “If they are sincere, I’m sure we will be on the road to an agreement.”<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Iran held indirect talks in the Persian Gulf state of Oman on February 6, and Takht-Ravanchi, who confirmed a second round was set to take place in Geneva on Tuesday, said they had been “more or less in a positive direction but it is too early to judge”. Trump has also described those talks as positive.<\/p>\n
The deputy foreign minister pointed to Tehran’s offer to dilute its 60%-enriched uranium as evidence of its willingness to compromise.<\/p>\n
“We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program if they are ready to talk about sanctions,” Takht-Ravanchi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u00a02015 nuclear deal, Takht-Ravanchi said, “It was too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations”.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Other proposals previously reported in the media include an offer from Tehran to temporarily suspend nuclear enrichment.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
Iran has viewed Washington’s maximalist demands for zero enrichment as an obstacle to any deal.<\/p>\n
Iran regards that as a red line, a violation of its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).<\/p>\n
Takht-Ravanchi said the “issue of zero enrichment is not an issue anymore and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore”.\u00a0
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\n Iran’s negotiator also reiterated Tehran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program with American negotiators \u2013 which has been a key demand of Israel.<\/p>\n
“When we were attacked by Israelis and Americans, our missiles came to our rescue so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities?” Takht-Ravanchi stressed.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
But in his latest remarks, Trump focused again on regime change, musing: “It seems that would be the best thing that would happen.”<\/p>\n
“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, who is now the main Arab mediator, with other regional powers also playing a significant role, including Qatar.<\/p>\n
Takht-Ravanchi also questioned the U.S. military build-up in the region, warning another war would be “traumatic, bad for everybody\u2026 everybody will suffer, particularly those who have initiated this aggression”.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
Iran has repeatedly made it clear that U.S. military bases in the region would be regarded as a legitimate target.<\/p>\n
Asked about more than 40,000 U.S. soldiers now being posted in the region, Takht-Ravanchi replied, “It would be a different game”.<\/p>\n
Senior Iranian officials have been engaged in intensive discussions with their counterparts across the region, who have in turn been on the phone to President<\/p>\n
Trump about the urgency of avoiding a war that would have far-reaching repercussions.<\/p>\n
“We see an almost unanimous agreement in the region against war,” Takht-Ravanchi said.<\/p>\n
Iran has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to sabotage this negotiating track.<\/p>\n
“We are hopeful we can do this through diplomacy, although we can’t be 100% sure,” he reflected, adding Iran has “to be alert so we are not surprised”. That is a reference to Israel’s unexpected attack last June, which triggered what is now known as the 12-day war, just days before Iran was preparing to meet U.S.<\/p>\n
Envoy Steve Witkoff for a sixth round of indirect talks in Oman. It has left Tehran with little trust in this process.<\/p>\n
Iran is known to have been dismayed by the lack of progress in last year’s talks, with Witkoff understood to have often attended without experts on what is a highly technical matter.<\/p>\n
Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, have been critical over understandings reached in one round often being changed by the time of the next meeting.<\/p>\n
The presence of Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the last talks in early February has been seen by Iran as a positive signal of greater U.S. engagement.<\/p>\n
Takht-Ravanchi said Iran would head to the next round in Geneva with hope that a deal could be done. “We will do our best but the other side also has to prove that they are also sincere,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n