Ball in US court to prove seriousness about making nuclear deal: Iran’s deputy FM

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs says it is the United States’ turn to demonstrate its resolve to reach an agreement aimed at resolving Tehran’s nuclear issue. 

Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) published on Sunday, more than a week after Iranian and American officials held indirect talks in Oman following weeks of escalating tensions caused by the US war rhetoric against the Islamic Republic.

He said the ball is “in America's court to prove that they want to make a deal,” adding, “If they are sincere, I'm sure we will be on the road to an agreement.”

Takht-Ravanchi, a member of the Iranian negotiating team, also stated that Washington has expressed interest in resolving matters peacefully, both publicly and privately, through Oman.

“We are hearing that they (the Americans) are interested in negotiations,” he emphasized.

Regarding the talk of “regime change” by US officials, he said, “We are not hearing that in the private messages.”

Meanwhile, the Iranian diplomat warned that another war would be “traumatic, bad for everybody… everybody will suffer, particularly those who have initiated this aggression.”

He further stressed that in the region, there is an “almost unanimous agreement” against war.

“We are hopeful we can do this through diplomacy, although we can't be 100% sure,” he said, noting that Iran has “to be alert so we are not surprised.”

The deputy foreign minister was referring to the illegal US-Israeli aggression that killed at least 1,064 people in Iran, including military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, between June 13 and 27.

Condemned as a major betrayal of diplomacy, the criminal assault came just days before Tehran was preparing to hold a sixth round of Oman-mediated negotiations with Washington. 

Takht-Ravanchi said that the latest Iran-US talks in the Omani capital of Muscat have been “more or less in a positive direction, but it is too early to judge.”

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He also confirmed that a second round of the negotiations was set to take place in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday.

Additionally, in his interview, he 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.

Asked about the potential transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to another country, Takht-Ravanchi stressed, “it was too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations.”

However, the issue of “zero enrichment is not an issue anymore, and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore,” he added.

“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.”

The diplomat also reiterated that Iran would not discuss its ballistic missile program with American negotiators.

“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,” he said, in reference to Iran’s retaliatory operations, through which Tehran managed to impose a halt to the 12-day US-Israeli aggression.

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