Iran reasserted its position on Sunday amid renewed nuclear talks with the United States, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi making clear that Tehran will not give up uranium enrichment or bow to military pressure from Washington.
‘Their military deployment does not scare us’: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi on US moves (File photo)He also rejected US military buildup in the Middle East, including the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, saying “their military deployment in the region does not scare us”.
Aragchi was speaking at a forum in Tehran when he said Iran had little trust in the United States and questioned whether Washington was committed to genuine negotiations, AFP reported.
‘No one has the right to dictate our behavior’Araghchi rejected any compromise on uranium enrichment, framing it as a matter of sovereignty rather than strategy.
“Why do we put so much emphasis on prosperity and refuse to give it up even when war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior,” Araghchi said at the forum.
The comments came days after Iran and the US resumed talks in Oman on Friday. It marks the first such talks since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June last year, a conflict in which the US briefly joined.
Iran is seeking relief from US economic sanctions in exchange for limited action on the nuclear front. At the forum, the foreign minister said the country could offer “a series of confidence-building measures on the nuclear programme”.
Araghachi, however, added that the ongoing “sanctions and military action raise doubts about the seriousness and readiness of the other side (the United States) to conduct genuine negotiations,” the AFP report added.
On the atomic bombAmid the talks, Aragchi said Tehran was also coordinating with its main allies and “strategic partners” China and Russia on talks with Washington.
“They fear our nuclear bomb, while we are not looking for one. Our nuclear bomb is the power to say ‘no’ to great powers,” Araghchi said.
Western nations and Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed state, accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb, a claim Tehran has consistently denied.
Meanwhile, the US and Israel want talks to go beyond the nuclear issue. The Trump administration is seeking to include Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups across the region in the talks.
Iran has repeatedly refused to include these issues in the talks.
The latest diplomatic setback comes after a sharp crackdown by the Iranian government following anti-regime protests across the country.
Trump’s military pushWhile maintaining a diplomatic front, Donald Trump has doubled down on his military posture. US Ambassador Steve Wittkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner visited the nuclear-powered USS Abraham Lincoln on Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, citing AFP.
The fleet, dubbed the “armada” by Trump, was sent to the region a few weeks ago as part of a larger military build-up and is said to be stationed in the Gulf.
Although Trump called the Oman talks “very good” and Iranian President Massoud Pezheshkian said they had “taken a step forward”, pressure on Tehran continued.
After the first round of talks, Trump signed an executive order imposing new tariffs on countries that still do business with Iran. The United States has announced new sanctions targeting shipping entities and vessels involved in Iran’s oil exports.
(with AFP input)
