Iranian officials say Tehran is weighing renewed nuclear diplomacy with Washington, seeking sanctions relief while rejecting preconditions as U.S. and regional tensions remain high.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Iran is weighing the terms for resuming nuclear talks with the United States, a foreign ministry official said Monday, as both governments signaled readiness to revive stalled diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program amid heightened regional tensions and a U.S. military buildup near Iran.
The comments came as tensions remain elevated following a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran last month, the deadliest episode of domestic unrest since the country’s 1979 revolution, and as U.S. naval forces have increased their presence near Iran’s coastline.
President Donald Trump, who refrained from direct military intervention during the unrest, has since pressed Tehran to make nuclear concessions and ordered a U.S. naval flotilla toward the region. Trump said last week that Iran was “seriously talking,” while Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said arrangements for negotiations were underway.
Iranian sources said the U.S. has demanded three conditions for restarting talks: an end to uranium enrichment inside Iran, restrictions on Tehran’s ballistic missile program, and termination of its support for regional proxy groups. Iran has repeatedly rejected all three as violations of its sovereignty, though two Iranian officials said Tehran’s leadership views limits on its missile program as a more difficult obstacle than nuclear enrichment.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran was reviewing “the various dimensions and aspects of the talks,” adding that “time is of the essence for Iran as it wants lifting of unjust sanctions sooner.”
A senior Iranian official and a Western diplomat said U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi could meet in Turkey in the coming days. A Turkish ruling party official said Tehran and Washington had agreed that any talks this week would focus on diplomacy, potentially reducing the risk of U.S. military action.
An Iranian official said Tehran maintains that negotiations should resume without preconditions and that Iran is prepared to show flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over about 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and accepting zero enrichment under a multinational consortium arrangement. However, the official said Iran wants U.S. military assets moved away from its borders before formal talks begin.
“Now the ball is in Trump’s court,” the official said.
Iran’s regional influence has been weakened in recent months by Israeli military actions against groups aligned with Tehran, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Iraq, as well as by the removal of longtime ally Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.
Last year, the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear targets, joining Israel at the end of a 12-day bombing campaign. Those attacks followed years of stalled diplomacy after five rounds of indirect talks broke down in May 2023, leaving major disagreements unresolved, particularly Iran’s insistence on maintaining domestic enrichment and its refusal to ship its entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium abroad.
Since U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in June, Tehran has said its uranium enrichment activities have stopped. The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has repeatedly called on Iran to clarify the status of its highly enriched uranium stockpile following those attacks.
Western governments fear Iran’s enrichment program could produce material suitable for a nuclear weapon, a claim Tehran rejects, insisting its nuclear activities are limited to electricity generation and other civilian purposes. Iranian sources said Tehran could agree to ship its highly enriched uranium abroad and pause enrichment as part of a broader deal that includes lifting U.S. and international economic sanctions.
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