DM Monitoring
TEHRAN: Iran is willing to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States, President Masoud Pezeshkian has said, but only if Washington can re-establish trust following recent hostilities.
In an interview released on Monday with former US television host Tucker Carlson, the Iranian president stated, “We see no problem in re-entering the negotiations,” but added that Tehran requires guarantees that attacks like those in June will not recur.
The comments come just weeks after a dramatic escalation between Iran and Israel, during which the United States also conducted strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The clashes disrupted an anticipated round of nuclear talks that had been scheduled between Washington and Tehran.
“How are we going to trust the US again?” Pezeshkian asked during the interview. “We re-entered the negotiations, then how can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks, the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us?”
President Pezeshkian further accused Israel of attempting to assassinate him amid the conflict. “They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed,” he said, claiming that a meeting he was attending was targeted in an Israeli airstrike.
The mid-June Israeli bombardment reportedly killed hundreds in Iran, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iranian retaliation with missiles and drones killed 28 people in Israel, according to officials. The brief but intense conflict ended with a ceasefire on 24 June, which has held thus far.
Pezeshkian criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the region, accusing him of drawing the US into endless conflict. “The US administration should refrain from getting involved in a war that is not America’s war, it is Netanyahu’s war,” he warned. He also addressed fears surrounding Iran’s nuclear intentions. “We have never been after developing a nuclear bomb,” he said, citing a religious decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forbidding such weapons.
Finally, Pezeshkian sought to reassure Americans of Iran’s posture. “Iran has never invaded another country in the last 200 years,” he said, clarifying that slogans like “Death to America” are directed at perceived injustice and aggression, not the American people themselves.
Earlier, The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
