Ease sanctions to show desire for reviving nuclear talks, Iran tells US

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has said that relations with the United States can move forward if the Biden administration demonstrates it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, and a first step should be easing sanctions.

He told a news conference on Wednesday that the Americans have reached out through several channels “saying they wish to have a dialogue, but we do believe that it must be accompanied by action.” “So talk alone is not going to do it,” Raisi said.

But action on sanctions can be “a solid foundation for continuing” discussions. The Iranian leader added: “We have not left the table of negotiations.”

Raisi reiterated that the American withdrawal from the 2015 agreement, aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear program, trampled on US commitments, including on sanctions.

Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the accord in 2018, restoring crippling sanctions. Iran began breaking the terms a year later, including by enriching uranium to higher levels, and formal talks in Vienna to try to restart the deal collapsed in August 2022.

Frozen assets

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said in an interview that the Iranian government’s removal of many cameras and electronic monitoring systems installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) makes it impossible to give assurances about the country’s nuclear program.

The IAEA, which Grossi heads, reported earlier this month that Iran had slowed the pace of enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels.

That was seen as a sign that Tehran was trying to ease tensions after years of strain with the United States, and one that took place as the rivals were negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions in frozen Iranian assets — which all took place Monday.

Grossi has previously warned that Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear bombs if it chooses to build them.

Nuclear inspections

Raisi reiterated on Wednesday that Iran’s nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, pointing to its use in agriculture, oil and gas infrastructure, and saying “we have enrichment to satisfy those needs.”

He said reports that Iran has increased its enrichment levels “are not based in fact.”

The IAEA director general told the AP on Monday that he asked to meet Raisi on the sidelines of this week's annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, which both were attending, to try to reverse Tehran’s ban on “a very sizable chunk” of the agency’s nuclear inspectors.

When asked whether he had met Grossi, Raisi responded that he had talked to him in Tehran, in early March — not this week, adding that Iran has had “very good cooperation” with the IAEA.

As for denying future entry to many of the most experienced nuclear inspectors, Raisi said the government was only taking aim at individuals “who may undertake actions aimed at undermining the level of trust” Iran has in them — “not inspections themselves.”

“The inspectors who haven’t shown any reason for a lack of trust, they can certainly continue their pursuits,” he said.