Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday rebuked the idea of direct negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration over its nuclear program.
Pezeshkian: US must ‘build trust’ after earlier breached promises
“We responded to the US president’s letter via Oman and rejected the option of direct talks, but we are open to indirect negotiations,” Pezeshkian said during a sitdown with his cabinet broadcast on Iranian TV.
“We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” Pezeshkian said. “They must prove that they can build trust.”
During Trump’s first term in 2018, he pulled the US out of a nuclear agreement with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
That deal provided sanctions relief for Iran, with the Iranian government in exchange curbing its nuclear program and allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to periodically view its enrichment sites. France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the EU are some of the other parties signed onto the JCPOA.
Trump vows ‘bombing’ if no new Iran nuclear deal
Trump sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei earlier this month, urging Iran to reach a new nuclear deal with the US in his second term in the White House.
In an interview with US broadcaster NBC News, Trump made new threats towards Iran if there is no new nuclear agreement with the US.
“If they don’t make a deal,” Trump told the outlet on Saturday evening, referring to Iran. “There will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
Trump claimed that representatives from the US and Iran are “talking” on the matter.
The Trump administration has a “maximum pressure” approach towards Iran, which aims to both economically and politically isolate Tehran.
The Trump administration has also vowed to crack down on so-called Iranian proxies in the Middle East region, with the US currently attacking the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
