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Iran parliament rules out resumption of US nuclear talks

Iran parliament rules out resumption of US nuclear talks
MENA
2 min read
Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of indirect negotiations mediated by Oman prior to the 12-day war launched by Israel and joined by the US.
Iran's parliament did not define the preconditions, but Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said there should be guarantees there will be no further attacks against Tehran [Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images]

Iran's parliament said the country should not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until preconditions are met, in a statement reported on Wednesday by Iranian state media.

"When the US use negotiations as a tool to deceive Iran and cover up a sudden military attack by the Zionist regime (Israel), talks cannot be conducted as before. Preconditions must be set and no new negotiations can take place until they are fully met," the statement from the parliament said.

The statement did not define the preconditions, but Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said there should be guarantees there will be no further attacks against Tehran.

Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month, saying that they were part of a programme geared towards developing nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes.

Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of indirect negotiations mediated by Oman prior to the 12-day air war, with US demands that Tehran drop its domestic uranium enrichment programme reaching a dead end.

Last week, Araqchi reiterated Tehran's position that it would not agree to a nuclear deal that prevents it from enriching uranium and would refuse to discuss extra-nuclear topics such as its ballistic missile programme.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was in no rush to negotiate with Iran as its nuclear sites were now "obliterated", but the US, in coordination with three European countries, has agreed to set the end of August as the deadline for a deal.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that Paris, London and Berlin would trigger the United Nations sanctions snapback mechanism, which would reimpose international sanctions on Iran, by the end of August if there is no concrete progress regarding an agreement.

A German foreign ministry spokesperson also said on Wednesday that the three, known as the E3, could reactivate Iran sanctions if the nuclear dispute is not resolved over the course of the summer.

"A sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution is needed that takes into account the security interests of the international community. If such a solution is not found over the course of the summer, the snapback is an option for the E3," the spokesperson told Reuters.