DUBAI: Iran does not rule out the possibility of a meeting on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York on reviving its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday.
Months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States have foundered over several issues including Tehran’s insistence that the International Atomic Energy Agency close its investigation into uranium traces found at three undeclared sites before the pact is revived, and a US guarantee that it would not walk out of any nuclear agreement again.
“Ali Bagheri Kani, the chief nuclear negotiator, will be present at the...General Assembly as part of the delegation but there is no specific plan to discuss the nuclear deal. However, I do not rule out the possibility of talks regarding the nuclear deal,” Kanaani said.
He said Tehran had never left the negotiating table.
Kanaani, however, dismissed the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Iranian and US officials in New York. Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979 and remain at odds over many issues.
In a CBS interview broadcast on Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran would be serious about reviving the nuclear pact if there were guarantees Washington would not again withdraw for it — as happened in 2018 under then-US President Donald Trump, who said the accord was too weak.
“If it’s a good deal and fair deal, we would be serious about reaching an agreement,” Raisi said.
The 2015 deal, under which Tehran restrained its disputed nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions, has frayed badly since the US pull-out with Iran breaching its limits on uranium enrichment.
There has been no sign Tehran and Washington will manage to overcome their impasse but Iran is expected to use the UN General Assembly to keep the diplomatic ball rolling by repeating its willingness to reach a sustainable pact.
Iran raises possibility of meeting at UN assembly to revive nuclear deal
https://arab.news/654q4
Iran raises possibility of meeting at UN assembly to revive nuclear deal
- Months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States have foundered over several issues
- Iran dismissed the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Iranian and US officials in New York
Israel warns Lebanon of severe response if Hezbollah joins US-Iran conflict
- Israel dealt heavy blows to the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah during a war in 2024
GENEVA/BEIRUT: Israel has sent an indirect message to Lebanon that it would strike Lebanon hard, targeting civilian infrastructure including the airport, in the event that Hezbollah gets involved in any US-Iran war, two senior Lebanese officials said on Tuesday.
The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iran and the US will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday, amid growing concerns about the risk of military conflict between the adversaries.
Israel dealt heavy blows to the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah during a war in 2024, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with thousands of its fighters and destroying much of its arsenal.
Shiite Muslim Hezbollah was established by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982.
Hezbollah’s new leader
Naim Qassem
said in a televised address last month that the group was “not neutral” in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, and that it was “targeted by the potential aggression.”
“We are determined to defend ourselves. We will choose in due course how to act, whether to intervene or not,” Qassem said.
The U.S
. State Department
is pulling out non-essential government personnel and their eligible family members from the US embassy in Beirut, a senior State Department official said on Monday. (
