Tehran [Iran], July 23: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment programme despite significant damage caused by recent US and Israeli airstrikes, calling the programme a matter of "national pride", Al Jazeera reported.
"It is now stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe, but obviously, we cannot give up our enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists, and now, more than that, it is a question of national pride," Araghchi told US broadcaster Fox News in an interview aired on Monday.
Araghchi also signaled Iran's willingness to re-engage in diplomacy, saying Iran is "open to talks" with the United States, though not directly "for the time being." According to Al Jazeera, he stated, "If they [the US] are coming for a win-win solution, I am ready to engage with them."
"We are ready to do any confidence-building measure needed to prove that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever, and Iran would never go for nuclear weapons, and in return, we expect them to lift their sanctions," the minister added.
"So, my message to the United States is that let's go for a negotiated solution for Iran's nuclear programme," Araghchi said, according to Al Jazeera.
He also emphasised that there is still a diplomatic path forward: "There is a negotiated solution for our nuclear programme. We have done it once in the past. We are ready to do it once again."
As Al Jazeera reported, talks between Tehran and Washington on the nuclear programme were underway earlier this year, following years of tension since Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal had allowed for extensive international monitoring of Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
However, recent developments have strained relations further. On June 13, Israel launched a series of surprise bombing raids targeting Iran's military and nuclear facilities, which led to the deaths of more than 900 people in Iran and at least 28 in Israel before a ceasefire was established on June 24. The US also joined in the attacks, and the Pentagon later said it had set back Iran's nuclear programme by one to two years.
Al Jazeera noted that Araghchi said Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation is still assessing the damage to enriched materials and will "soon inform" the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings.
"We have not stopped our cooperation with the agency," he claimed, though he added that any request for IAEA inspectors would be "carefully considered."
Inspectors had previously exited Iran after President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA. According to Al Jazeera, Iranian officials accused the IAEA of bias following a resolution passed by its board on June 12, which accused Tehran of non-compliance with nuclear obligations. Iran has said this resolution was one of the "excuses" Israel used to justify its military strikes.
Meanwhile, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric welcomed "dialogue between the Europeans and the Iranians," referring to planned talks between Iran, France, Germany, and the UK in Turkiye on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.
European JCPOA signatories have warned that Iran's failure to re-enter negotiations could lead to the reimposition of international sanctions.
Source: Times of Oman
