Tehran to Washington: Lift sanctions first, then we talk

Tehran has made it clear that it will only engage in negotiations with Washington if US President Donald Trump lifts all sanctions imposed on Iran.

Fada Hossein Maleki, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, reiterated this stance, emphasizing in an interview with Iranian media that any discussions must align with Iran’s national interests, Caliber.Az reports.

“If Trump really believes in negotiations, the first step in this direction should be the complete lifting of the brutal sanctions, after which negotiations should continue taking into account [Iranian] national interests. According to the Supreme Leader’s [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s] decision, we will sit at the negotiating table when we know that our national interests are protected.”

The statement comes after Trump announced on March 7 that he had sent a message to Khamenei proposing talks regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. However, Iran’s Supreme Leader dismissed the idea, asserting that the Islamic Republic has no interest in negotiations with the US, as Washington only prioritizes its own agenda.

Bloomberg previously reported that Moscow had expressed willingness to facilitate negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed this, stating that the Kremlin sees a diplomatic resolution to Iran’s nuclear issue as possible.

Meanwhile, Trump has maintained his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. On February 4, he signed an executive order aimed at intensifying US efforts to curtail Iranian oil exports. However, he also expressed interest in striking a “great deal” with Tehran and suggested he was open to meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Ayatollah Khamenei remains firm in his opposition to talks with the US. On February 7, he reiterated that negotiations were futile given Washington’s track record of broken promises. “The United States has already deceived us once,” he said, referencing the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington later abandoned in 2018 while failing to lift sanctions as initially agreed.

Adding to tensions, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued alarming reports about Iran’s nuclear activities. The latest findings suggest that if Tehran were to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels (90% purity), it could amass enough material for four to five nuclear weapons within a month, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.

By Tamilla Hasanova