Iran says it is open to resuming nuclear talks with the United States, but only on its own strict terms, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has told CNN. Kamal Kharrazi, foreign policy adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stressed that any negotiations must be based on “equal footing and mutual respect,” and he insisted that Iran will not shift from the position it held before the US and Israel struck its nuclear facilities in June. He added that the agenda should be agreed in advance to make the discussions clear and substantive.
Kharrazi criticized President Trump’s approach, arguing that he prefers force over diplomacy. According to him, Iran’s conditions remain unchanged, uranium enrichment will continue because Iran needs the fuel for energy production and medical purposes. He also made clear that Iran’s ballistic missile program, which he said is expanding, is not on the negotiating table. “It is only the nuclear issue we will discuss with the United States,” he said.
The damages from the June attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, he noted, have still not been fully assessed. Despite the strikes, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told CNN that the country’s nuclear infrastructure is largely intact. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no enrichment is “happening right now” because of the damage to Iran’s facilities.
Kharrazi said that future negotiations would focus not on ending enrichment, but on limiting the degree of enrichment , a more modest concession. He even suggested that there could be an understanding that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium while giving assurances that it will not pursue a nuclear weapon. He believes there are “ways and means” to achieve that balance.
He also issued a warning to Washington: the US must approach Iran with sincerity. Kharrazi said, “Start with a positive approach. If it is positive, certainly it will be reciprocated. But for that, they have to refrain from any force against Iran.” He argued that past use of force has failed and that a respectful negotiation is the only workable route.
