Iran says it is willing to restart negotiations on its nuclear programme

Araqchi says that “if the other side is ready, there can be a new beginning” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly

September 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Iran’s government on Monday expressed its willingness to address its nuclear program on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly taking place this week in New York “if the other parties are ready,” after years of stalemate in negotiations following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from the historic agreement reached three years earlier.

“We intend to start a new round of negotiations on the nuclear issue,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who traveled to New York with the reformist Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian. “We are ready and, if the other side is ready, we can have a new start to negotiations during this trip,” he stressed.

He explained on his Telegram account that “messages have been exchanged” and that “there is a general willingness to prepare,” although he added that “the current international situation makes restarting negotiations much more difficult than before,” referring to the increase in tensions in the Middle East and the fear of the outbreak of a large-scale war.

Iran has announced that it has broken its commitments on several points of the 2015 nuclear deal, although it has maintained that these steps can be reversed if the United States lifts its sanctions and re-applies the clauses of the historic agreement. However, the contacts have not led to a rapprochement so far, although Pezeshkian expressed openness during his election campaign to restarting talks.