TEL AVIV
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the US must require Iran to relinquish all of its enriched uranium and be barred from enriching more, as part of any nuclear deal with Tehran.
\nIn a speech in Jerusalem on Sunday, he outlined several conditions he wanted, including that \u201call enriched material has to leave Iran\u201d and that \u201cthere should be no enrichment capability\u201d.
\nHis comments come as Iranian and US officials prepare for a second round of talks in Switzerland on Tuesday.
\nIran will consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal if the US is willing to discuss lifting sanctions, Iranian deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC in Tehran.
\nHowever, Iran regards zero enrichment as a red line and a violation of its rights under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The US has piled pressure on Iran to reach a deal and has built up its military capabilities in the Middle East, sending two aircraft carriers \u2013 including its largest-ever warship \u2013 to the region.
\nAdditional American naval forces will protect against any potential threats in the region, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a news conference in Slovakia.
\nHe said US President Donald Trump \u201cprefers diplomacy and an outcome of negotiated settlement\u201d over direct attacks on Iran.
\nTrump\u2019s top envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to meet Iranian negotiators including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is travelling to Geneva. \u201cNo-one\u2019s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we\u2019re going to try,\u201d Rubio said.
\nUnder the 2015 nuclear deal, from which Trump withdrew, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear activities and allow international inspections in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEL AVIV Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the US must require Iran to relinquish all of its enriched uranium and be barred from enriching more, as part of any nuclear deal with Tehran. In a speech in Jerusalem on Sunday, he outlined several conditions he wanted, including that \u201call enriched material has to leave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-531771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n