Iran will find a way to survive if talks on a nuclear deal with the US fail and sanctions remain, the country’s president said on Monday.
“It’s not like we will die of hunger if they refuse to negotiate with us or impose sanctions,” Masoud Pezeshkian said.
His statement followed Sunday’s upbeat statement by US president Donald Trump that the latest round of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme between Washington and Tehran was “very, very good”. Mr Trump said there could be an announcement in coming days. “We’ve had some real progress, serious progress.”
In a reference to his threatened military action if no deal is reached,Mr Trump added: “I would love to see no bombs dropped.”
Tehran is also under strong domestic pressure for a deal as sanctions have crippled the economy. Following last Friday’s round of talks in Rome, the US state department said: “The talks continue to be constructive – we made further progress, but there is still work to do. Both sides agreed to meet again in the near future.”
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the issues were complicated and needed further discussions. He said Omani foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi, who is mediating, had suggested fresh ideas to close the gap between the sides.
Mr Busaidi posted on X that some progress had been achieved and expressed the wish that “outstanding issues can be clarified in coming days that allows for meaningful progress toward a sustainable agreement”. It has been hoped an agreement can be reached before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meets in June.
The red line for both sides has been enrichment of uranium. Tehran insists this must continue at the low level of 3.67 per cent for domestic power plants, while Washington demands a total halt. That could lead to dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear programme, which was launched during the 1950s under the US Atoms for Peace programme and developed with US co-operation in the reign of the shah before he was toppled by anti-US clerics in 1979.
Virginia-based website Axios cited US sources who said that before the talks, US envoy Steve Witkoff met in Rome with Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and the director of Israel‘s external spy agency Mossad, David Barnea. Sceptical of a nuclear deal, Israel has threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. In response, Iran has said it would relocate nuclear material to secret locations where there would be no IAEA monitoring .
In 2018 during his first term in office, Mr Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions. Iran responded by breaching the 3.67 per cent enrichment limitation, producing a stockpile of 60 per cent enriched uranium, which is close to 90 per cent for weapons, and reducing monitoring by the IAEA.
Tehran has denied US and Western allegations that Iran intends to make nuclear arms and could produce enough highly enriched uranium for several devices. Experts have said it could take up to 18 months to make bombs.
