REFILE: Iran foreign minister says certain things need to change to enable talks with US

Record ID: 1985302

  • Title: REFILE: Iran foreign minister says certain things need to change to enable talks with US
  • Date: 23rd March 2025
  • Summary: TEHRAN, IRAN (RELEASED: MARCH 23, 2025) (POOL VIA WANA - No use BBC Persian. No use VOA Persian. No use Manoto. No use Iran International) IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER ABBAS ARAQCHI SITTING DOWN FOR INTERVIEW WITH A LOCAL IRANIAN NEWS AGENCY (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER ABBAS ARAQCHI SAYING (TRANSLATION PROVIDED BY WANA): "In my opinion, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehe
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: iran iran foreign minister abbas araqchi nuclear
  • Location: TEHRAN, IRAN
  • City: TEHRAN, IRAN
  • Country: Iran
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Middle East,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001112623032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: TRANSLATIONS PROVIDED BY WANA
    In a pre-recorded interview, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said talks with the United States are no longer possible unless certain things change.
    The interview, recorded earlier in March with a local Iranian news agency, was made available on Sunday (March 23).
    "In my opinion, the JCPOA in its current form and with its current text cannot be revived and is not advisable for us either because our nuclear situation has now advanced so much that we cannot return to the conditions in the JCPOA," Araqchi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action 2015 nuclear pact.
    In 2018, the U.S., led by then-President Donald Trump, exited Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran.
    That prompted Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limits by rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
    Iran will not negotiate with the U.S. about nuclear matters unless Washington returns to the 2015 nuclear deal or announces its policy regarding it, Araqchi said in interview in January.
    "The JCPOA can still be a basis and, or a model for negotiations," Araqchi said.
    Earlier this month Trump reached out to Iran's top authority, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a possible new nuclear deal is an effort to avoid military action, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday.
    He said he had had sent a letter to Khamenei, warning that "there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal."
    Khamenei rejected the U.S. offer for talks as "a deception," saying negotiating with the Trump administration would "tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran."
    Araqchi, said on Thursday (March 20) that Tehran would soon reply to both the letter's "threats and opportunities" whilst cautioning on Sunday during the pre-recorded interview that talks with the U.S. are impossible unless Washington changes its pressure policy.
    "Under these conditions, negotiations with the US cannot be entered into unless something changes," Arqchi said.
    Speaking separately on CBS News, the White House's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, said the U.S. sought "full dismantlement" of Iran's nuclear program.
    Tehran has long said the program is only for peaceful purposes.
    While leaving the door open for a nuclear pact with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the "maximum pressure" campaign he applied in his first term as president, including efforts to drive the country's oil exports to zero.
    The U.S. has issued four rounds of sanctions on Iran's oil sales since Trump's return to the White House on January 20.
    (Production: Yvonne Bell)
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