Iran expresses readiness to work with US, UN N-body

Iran’s foreign minister said on Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear programme, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

On working with the UN nuclear watchdog, Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation “case by case,” based on Iran’s interests.

He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran’s “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors.

“The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

He also reiterated Iran’s position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. Trump has insisted that cannot happen. Russian President Putin has told Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, Axios reported on Saturday, citing sources.