Iran declares itself willing to conclude an agreement with the United States on its nuclear program, provided that all economic sanctions are immediately lifted. This is said by Ali Shamkhani, advisor to the Iranian supreme guide Ali Khamenei, in an interview with the American channel NBC News.
According to his words, Iran would never agree to produce nuclear weapons, to give up its highly enriched uranium stocks and to limit its enrichment to strictly civil levels. Tehran also says he is ready to allow international inspections to supervise the nuclear program.
Questioned by NBC News on the possibility of signing such an agreement now if these conditions were met, Shamkhani responded in the affirmative. He spoke of the possibility of “improving relations” with the United States and “a better situation in the near future”.
These statements come as discussions between the two countries resumed on April 12. On Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Deputy Minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, had already suggested that Iran was ready to accept temporary restrictions on the enrichment of uranium.
Iran currently enriches uranium at 60 %, a threshold much higher than 3.67 % authorized by the 2015 agreement, of which the United States retired in 2018 under the Trump administration. The latter, speaking since Qatar, said that an agreement was “close”, which led to a drop in oil prices.
Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States was very close to an agreement with Iran about the Tehran nuclear program, which “more or less” accepted the terms.
“We are engaged in very serious negotiations with Iran for long -term peace,” said the American president according to a “pool” of journalists accompanying him in his tour in the Gulf.
“We are close to perhaps conclude an agreement (…). There are two steps to get there: a very very pleasant step and a violent step, but I do not want to choose the second option, “he added, implicitly evoking the hypothesis of a military action.
The current negotiations aim to restore a binding framework to prevent any militarization of the Iranian nuclear program, in return for a reduction in sanctions which weigh heavily on the economy of the country.
