Iran weighs nuclear diplomacy with US; gaps over missiles remain
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Tensions are running high amid a military build-up by the US Navy near Iran.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DUBAI – Iran is weighing the terms for resuming talks with the United States soon, a Foreign Ministry official said on Feb 2, after both sides signalled readiness to revive diplomacy over a long-running nuclear dispute and dispel fears of a new regional war
Tensions are running high amid a military build-up by the US Navy near Iran, following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations in January, the deadliest domestic unrest
US President Donald Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Iran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast.
He said last week Iran was "seriously talking", while Tehran’s top security official Ali Larijani said on X that arrangements for negotiations were under way.
Iranian sources told Reuters last week that Mr Trump had demanded three preconditions for resumption of talks: Zero uranium enrichment in Iran, limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and ending its support for regional proxies.
Iran has long rejected all three demands as unacceptable infringements of its sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters its clerical rulers see the ballistic missile programme, rather than uranium enrichment, as the bigger obstacle.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was considering “the various dimensions and aspects of the talks”, adding that “time is of the essence for Iran as it wants lifting of unjust sanctions sooner”.
A senior Iranian official and a Western diplomat told Reuters that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi could meet in Turkey in the coming day.
A Turkish ruling party official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington had agreed that this week’s talks would be focused on diplomacy, a potential reprieve for possible US strikes.
The Iranian official said “diplomacy is ongoing. For talks to resume, Iran says there should not be preconditions and that it is ready to show flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over 400kg of highly enriched uranium, accepting zero enrichment under a consortium arrangement as a solution”.
However, he added, for the start of talks, Tehran wants US military assets moved away from Iran.
"Now the ball is in Trump’s court," he said.
Tehran’s regional sway has been weakened by Israel’s attacks on its proxies – from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq – as well as by the ousting of Iran’s close ally, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
In 2025, the US struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in at the close of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign
Tehran demands lifting of sanctions
After five rounds of talks that have stalled since May 2023, several hard-to-bridge issues remained between Tehran and Washington, including Iran’s insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Since the US strikes on Iran’s three nuclear sites
Western countries fear Iran’s uranium enrichment could yield material for a warhead. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for electricity generation and other civilian uses.
The Iranian sources said Tehran could ship its highly enriched uranium abroad and pause enrichment in a deal that should also include lifting economic sanctions. REUTERS
