With Code, Iran Shows Interest In Direct Talks About Nuclear Deal With United States

Iran's Arak nuclear facility. (Wikimedia Commons/Nanking2012)

JAKARTA - Iran on Monday showed a willingness to open direct diplomatic channels with the United States to carry out discussions on the nuclear deal, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

As discussions on a deal with world powers are underway, Iran's signal of its new position is complemented by the precondition that the resumption of dialogue with Washington must turn to a good deal.

In 2018, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all the country's matters, banned any negotiations with the US, saying negotiations with Washington would cost Tehran.

Earlier this month, Khamenei indirectly gave the Iranian negotiating team a green light to talk to the US, saying negotiating and interacting with the enemy does not mean giving up.

IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian as saying, "if we reach a stage in the negotiation process where the need for a good deal with high guarantees is to have a dialogue with America at some level, we will not ignore it."

Iran and world powers have started another round of nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria aimed at salvaging the shattered 2015 nuclear deal. The meeting includes all of the remaining signatories of the deal — Iran, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China.

Previously, the US had participated indirectly in the ongoing talks, having pulled out of the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.

Trump later reimposed crushing sanctions on Iran. Tehran retaliated by starting to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity, a short technical step away from the 90 percent needed to make an atomic bomb.

After being elected US President, Joe Biden has signaled that he wants to rejoin the deal.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said talks with Iran over its nuclear program were at a 'defining moment'. He also warned that Washington and its allies could change tactics if a deal is not reached in the coming weeks.

Foreign Minister Blinken said the longer Iran failed to comply with the 2015 Vienna accord, which was meant to rein in Tehran's nuclear program, the closer it would be to building an atomic weapon.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. But the country's moves away from its obligations under the 2015 agreement have alarmed Israel and other world powers.