Iran signals ahead of the negotiations in Geneva: “Zero enrichment has no meaning”

A day before the second round of negotiations between Iran and the US to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, with the mediation of Oman, preparations are already underway in Tehran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi met today (Monday) with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, for technical talks. The Iranian message is clear: they are ready for diplomacy, but do not give up the basic lines and come suspicious.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baka’i told the Iranian news agency IRNA that “we are conducting negotiations under conditions of complete suspicion and mistrust. We have previous experience and we must not in any way forget this experience even for a moment. Therefore, with this approach and taking into account the established framework, we are advancing the state’s positions within this framework.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi wrote this morning on his account on Network X: “I will meet today with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, for an in-depth technical discussion. Tomorrow, I will meet with the Foreign Minister of Oman, Badr al-Busaidi, in preparation for the negotiations with the US.” I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable agreement. What is not on the agenda: surrender under threats.”

The Secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said last night in an interview with the Al Jazeera channel: “Zero enrichment is something that has no meaning. We have logical motives. We enrich to meet our needs. For example, we have a large number of cancer patients for whom we need to produce medicine. And also what is required for the Tehran reactor. Therefore, we need enriched uranium to the level of 20%. The agency can come and see this.”

“We have a reactor that produces treatment for various diseases, including cancer. This is not a hidden thing,” he added. “And I think that things should not be presented in a vague way in political work. There is a reality, and the agency can come and see it.”

“When you want to look for excuses to reach another goal – that’s what Israel does. Israel looks for excuses for war,” Larijani claimed. She started a war with us and gave us a blow – but she also received a blow.”

Larijani threatened that “if the Americans want to cross the borders with Iran – we will attack them, including in the bases located in the Gulf countries. When you speak the language of force – they will respond with force.”

According to him, “We are ready in our country. In the last months, we have fully prepared, examined our weak points and dealt with them.” However, Larijani reiterated that they had no intention of starting a war. “But we are not looking for war. We will not start a war, because it will not be in the region’s interest. But if they force us – we will respond.”

The Iranian journalist Mehradad Khalili, who is close to the Ayatollah regime, said that “certainly if there is a diplomatic agreement we will welcome it, and if a war breaks out, God forbid, against our land and our country, even then we will prepare for the possible war.”

“The ball of negotiations and a diplomatic solution is now in the court of the United States, because according to the leaks and reports we are hearing, Iran has shown more flexibility in the nuclear file compared to the talks that preceded the war in June,” he added. “Therefore, if the American side really wants an agreement with Iran, we are ready to show more flexibility than before in the nuclear file.”

“However, there are red lines in terms of the leadership in Iran, and they are the missile issue and the nuclear issue,” he clarified. “We have to see in the future how this will develop, there is no consistent position on the part of the Americans and Trump himself. One day Trump says that we will negotiate with Iran on the nuclear file, and the next day he says that Iran has no right to possess nuclear capabilities and missiles. There is a rapid change in the American position.”

“It is true that Israel will suffer severe blows in any future war, but it sees the war as an opportunity to weaken the regime from within in Iran and secondly, in the next step, to try to bring about regime change, whether through war or through pro-Israeli groups within the country. Therefore, these are tactical disagreements and not an overall strategy towards Iran,” he claimed.

Regarding the possibility that Trump will turn to war, he claimed that “Trump may return to the option of war directly, as a last step. We do not have a clear timetable, say a month, but we do not know if this period of time will end after a month or if it will be given another extension.”

“The main issue and the main problem between the parties is building trust, especially after the US turned the tables last June and started a war while we were preparing for the round in Oman,” Khalili continued. “This war has destroyed what is left of the trust between Iran and the US. Tehran does not trust the American side today.”