According to a senior Iranian diplomat, Iran and America have not talked since Donald Trump came back to the White House. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi stated, “There have been no exchanges between the two sides since the new U.S. administration took office.”
Trump’s election term was characterized by maximum pressure, which was in contrast to Iran’s nuclear pause agreement negotiated with Europe in 2015, which was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In the terms of the JCPOA, Iran would have uranium enrichment curbed in exchange for sanctions relief. While Iran respected the terms of the deal until the U.S. withdrawal, it then began to withdraw its commitments. The negotiations to relaunch the 2015 nuclear pact fizzled out after that.
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Takht-Ravanchi stressed the need for calm and patience and noted that Iran would act accordingly once the new administration announces its policies. Trump expressed the hope of avoiding military strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites on Thursday, preferring an agreement instead.
Iran has maintained its readiness to revive the deal, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July, has sought to end his country’s isolation. Earlier this month, the Iranian side held nuclear negotiations with representatives from Britain, France, and Germany, the conversations being described by both sides as “frank and constructive” before Trump became president.
Takht-Ravanchi has mentioned that this is the third round of talks after two previous rounds in Geneva and New York in the past year. He hoped that a fresh round of talks could take place “within a month,” but that’s not a confirmed date yet. He added that Iran and European countries agreed on the framework of the JCPOA, which aims to curtail Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions. Non-nuclear issues would not be addressed in the talks, just like during the talks on the JCPOA.