\u201cWhat is not on the table: submission before threats,\u201d says Iran\u2019s foreign minister
\n BUDAPEST
\nA day before Washington\u2013Tehran nuclear talks in Geneva, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that making a deal with Iran will be difficult.
\nThe US secretary of state made the remarks during his visit to the Hungarian capital Budapest on Monday.
\nHe said: \u201cI think that there\u2019s an opportunity here to diplomatically reach an agreement that addresses the things we\u2019re concerned about. We\u2019ll be very open and welcoming to that. But I don\u2019t want to overstate it either.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard. It\u2019s been very difficult for anyone to do real deals with Iran, because we\u2019re dealing with \u2026 who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones,\u201d Rubio said:
\nMeanwhile, Iran\u2019s foreign minister met with the UN nuclear watchdog chief today.
\nThe development came as Washington, which joined Israel in a wave of air strikes on Iran in June, has ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East in the latest standoff with Tehran, in addition to other US warships and aircraft that have already been deployed.
\nAdding to the tension, Iran began a military drill on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway and oil export route from Gulf Arab states, who have been appealing for diplomacy to end the dispute.
\nThe US and Iran renewed negotiations earlier this month hoping to tackle their dispute over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel all believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.
\nScope of talks expands to missile stockpile
\nHowever, Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran\u2019s missile stockpile. Tehran says it is only willing to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and won\u2019t accept zero uranium enrichment. It says its missile capabilities are off the table.
\nIran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he was in Geneva to \u201cachieve a fair and equitable deal\u201d.
\n\u201cWhat is not on the table: submission before threats,\u201d Araqchi said on X.
\nIran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation against any attack, which would choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.
\nThe waterway connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
\nIran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards have conducted a drill named \u201cSmart Control of the Strait of Hormuz\u201d, to test the readiness of the guards\u2019 naval units to protect the waterway, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Monday.
\n\u201cIntelligently utilising the geopolitical advantages of the Islamic Republic in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman are among the main objectives of this exercise,\u201d Tasnim said.
\nIran\u2019s civil defence organisation held a chemical defence drill in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone on Monday to strengthen preparedness for potential chemical incidents in the energy hub located in southern Iran.
\nDeputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi on Sunday signalled Iran\u2019s readiness to compromise on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, telling the BBC that the ball was \u201cin America\u2019s court to prove that they want to do a deal.\u201d
\nPrior to the US joining Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites in June, Iran-US nuclear talks had stalled over Washington\u2019s demand that Tehran forgo enrichment on its soil, which the US views as a pathway to an Iranian nuclear weapon.
\nIran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes and is ready to assuage concerns regarding nuclear weapons by \u201cbuilding trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes.\u201d
\nIran\u2019s Foreign Ministry said Araqchi had discussed cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as Tehran\u2019s technical point of view regarding nuclear talks with the US during his meeting with IAEA head Rafael Grossi.
\nIAEA seeks clarity on enriched uranium
\nThe IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to its stockpile of 440 kg (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium following Israeli-US strikes and let inspections fully resume, including in three key sites that were bombed in June last year: Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he told US President Donald Trump last week that any US deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Iran\u2019s nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process.
\nNetanyahu said he is sceptical of a deal but it must include enriched material leaving Iran. \u201cThere shall be no enrichment capability\u2013not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantling the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWhat is not on the table: submission before threats,\u201d says Iran\u2019s foreign minister BUDAPEST A day before Washington\u2013Tehran nuclear talks in Geneva, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that making a deal with Iran will be difficult. The US secretary of state made the remarks during his visit to the Hungarian capital Budapest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-531766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n