Iran Will Not Give Up On US Pressure And Sanctions On Nuclear

UNSPLASH/Akbar ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Iran will not give in to the pressures and sanctions imposed by Washington. The US is currently imposing new sanctions on Tehran.

This was confirmed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi after meeting with his Russian counterpart, a few days after Moscow held initial talks with the US just a month after Donald Trump returned to the White House.

During his one-day visit to Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed regional and bilateral topics with Abbas Araqchi.

The visit came a day after the United States imposed new sanctions targeting Iran's oil industry, the main source of revenue for the Islamic Republic.

Trump earlier this month restored efforts to "maximum pressure" on Iran that included efforts to push the country's oil exports to zero, and reimposed tough policies on Iran practiced during its first term of office.

"Iran's position on nuclear negotiations is clear and we will not negotiate under pressure and sanctions," Araqchi said in a joint press conference broadcast on television with Lavrov.

"There is no possibility of direct negotiations with the US as long as the maximum pressure is applied this way," he continued.

While Trump has said he would be "happy to make a deal" with Iranian religious leaders, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said talks with the United States were "unsmart, wise, or honorable".

However, he did not renew the ban on direct talks with Washington set out for the first Trump administration.

In 2018, during his previous term, Trump withdrew the US from Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major countries and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

Tehran has since violated the nuclear agreement's limits and efforts to revive the treaty under Biden's administration failed.

Lavrov said he was confident diplomatic steps still needed to be taken to resolve issues surrounding Iran's nuclear program.

Moscow and Tehran have angered Western countries for developing stronger defense relations since the start of Ukraine's war in 2022.

"Our cooperation will be established in various fields, including energy, trade, tourism, and many other fields," said Araqchi.