THE United States must drop its “excessive demands” in nuclear talks with Iran to achieve a successful outcome, the Iranian foreign minister has said, as the US embassy in Jerusalem granted permission to nonemergency staff members to leave Israel amid fears of a regional war.
Abbas Aragchi made the remarks during a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdel Ati, according to a report on Friday by the ISNA news agency.
Iran’s top diplomat said that “success on this path requires seriousness and realism on the part of the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands”. He did not elaborate on what those demands are.
Aragchi’s statement tempered down previous comments where he hailed “progress” at the talks and described the last round of negotiations between Iranian and US officials in Geneva as the “most intense so far”.
“It concluded with the mutual understanding that we will continue to engage in a more detailed manner on matters that are essential to any deal including sanctions termination and nuclear-related steps,” he said.
Further negotiations will be conducted in parallel to meetings between technical teams in Vienna in the coming days, the Iranian diplomat added.
American and Iranian officials left the Swiss city following the indirect talks mediated by Oman on Thursday to consult with their respective governments.
Since resuming talks last month, the US has said it wants Iran to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure entirely, limit its arsenal of ballistic missiles and stop supporting regional allies. While Tehran has shown flexibility about discussing limitations on the enrichment of uranium for civilian use, it has so far treated missiles and proxies as non-negotiables.
US President Donald Trump has said he favours a diplomatic resolution to the standoff, but has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if it does not accept a deal. The US has amassed its biggest military arsenal in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, including the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, which arrived on Friday in the Israeli port city of Haifa, according to Israeli Channel 12.
Iran has said that it was not going to initiate a war, but that it was ready to respond if attacked, threatening to strike bases used by US forces in the region.
