Iran opens the door to resuming nuclear talks with US

Ayatollah Khamenei hints his approval after foreign minister calls for new negotiations on deal abandoned by Donald Trump

Iran’s supreme leader has hinted that his country is open to renewed talks with the US on the Islamic Republic’s vast nuclear programme.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told his government that it was possible to “interact” with the “enemy in certain situations”.
“There is no harm in that, but do not place your hopes in them. Do not trust the enemy,” Mr Khamenei warned, according to a transcript of remarks posted on his website.
It comes after Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, promised in his election campaign to restart negotiations with the West.
While Mr Khamenei still holds ultimate authority in the country, Mr Pezeshkian is considered to be less hardline than both Mr Khamenei and late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi.
Mr Khamenei’s remarks follow comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, who said Tehran was willing to reopen “revisions in some sections” of a previously agreed deal on its nuclear programme, a deal the US pulled out of in 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Mr Araghchi said last week that the deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – would no longer be viable in its original form but said that “new negotiations need to take shape”.
“In a sense, this document must definitely be reopened, and parts of it amended,” he said, according to Iranian state media.
After the JCPOA deal collapsed in 2018, Tehran began accelerating its nuclear programme.
Iran now has enough highly enriched uranium to potentially make “several” atomic weapons, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It would need to be enriched further before it could be used in bombs.
Tensions in the region are heightened after decades of shadow war between Iran and Israel exploded into direct confrontation in April, when Tehran launched missiles and drones into Israel.
In July, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil pushed Tehran to threaten Israel with an attack, which experts fear could become all-out war.
In June, the board of the IAEA – the UN’s nuclear watchdog – voted to censure Iran for failing to cooperate fully.
Iran has barred several UN inspectors, while insisting that its nuclear programme is peaceful and for civilian purposes, with no plans to develop dangerous weapons.
While direct talks have occurred between Iran and the US during Joe Biden’s presidency, it is unclear how a new administration might approach the situation following the US election in November.