An interview with Iran’s foreign minister

FIVE MONTHS after American and Israeli bombs struck several Iranian nuclear installations, could talks over managing the country's nuclear-enrichment programme be back on? Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, speaking exclusively to The Economist, appealed this week to President Donald Trump to return to the negotiating table. Mr Trump has previously suggested a deal of sorts could be done.

Mr Araghchi called for a “fair, balanced deal”, and said his government wishes to avert another Israeli attack. During an interview on November 19th in Tehran, Iran's capital, he bemoaned Mr Trump's decision to break off negotiations in June and America's involvement in the 12-day war that followed. “We don't have a single good experience with negotiating with the United States,” he said. Nonetheless, the door remains open. “We are ready for negotiation, but not for dictation,” he said.

Read a transcript of the interview

Iran continues to refuse Mr Trump's demand that it abandon its domestically developed nuclear programme, but Mr Araghchi suggested his country could agree to ways to reassure the West that it would not weaponise the programme. “Zero enrichment is impossible,” he said, “but zero [nuclear] weapons is possible.” Iranian diplomats continue to speak of a compromise proposal discussed in negotiations with America earlier this year. Uranium enrichment up to the internationally mandated limit of 3.67% purity might be managed on Iranian soil, they suggest, by a consortium of international powers, possibly including America.

Mr Araghchi insisted that Iranian enrichment “has now stopped” because of the Israeli and American attacks, which left several sites badly damaged. But he was vague on the fate of some 400kg of uranium that had already been enriched to near weapons-grade. After America hit nuclear sites in Natanz and Fordow the uranium was buried beneath the rubble, he insisted; he denied reports that the material had been removed to an unknown location before the bombs struck. He said international inspectors would be denied access to the bombed sites until a deal was negotiated. The recent reimposition of United Nations sanctions for Iran's violation of a previous nuclear agreement had, he said, made it harder to find ways to co-operate with Western powers.

Mr Araghchi is seeking to maximise Iran's leverage ahead of any talks—or in case of renewed military threats from Israel. Officials in Iran acknowledge that their diplomatic and military positions were weakened this year. Israel battered Iranian proxies, such as Hizbullah in Lebanon, killing troops and assassinating their leaders. Iran has lost its former alliance with Syria. Since the fall of its dictator, Bashar al-Assad, roughly a year ago, Syria has been more closely aligned with Turkey and Israel.

The June strikes on Iran have pushed it further away from becoming a nuclear-threshold state. Asked about his readiness for new Israeli attacks, Mr Araghchi said Iran was “even more prepared than [in] the previous war”. Iran's “missiles are in a better position”, both in terms of quantity and quality, he said. He suggested Iran was also developing its “strategic partnership” with Russia.

The foreign minister's efforts abroad are complicated by his need to placate hardliners at home who opposed previous talks with America's envoy, Steve Witkoff. They say the American efforts are insincere and provide a false sense of security. Mr Witkoff had scheduled a sixth round of talks to begin on June 15th. Two days before that date Israel, apparently with Mr Trump's blessing, launched its surprise attack on Tehran.

Hardliners warn that any American offer of renewed talks could be a ruse that would make military strikes by Israel more likely. Iranian diplomats still speak fondly of their lunches and handshakes with “Steve”, as they call Mr Witkoff. But they also acknowledge the internal pressure to rearm. “The best way to prevent a war”, says Mr Araghchi, “is to be prepared for that. And we are fully prepared.”

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Source: Hindustan Times
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