US must agree to compensate Iran before nuclear talks can resume, Foreign Minister says

Abbas Araghchi says 'road to negotiation narrow but not impossible'

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran requires confidence-building measures to return to talks. Reuters

The US must agree to compensate Iran for losses incurred during the 12-day war in June, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, in a sign that Tehran is hardening its stance over returning to nuclear negotiations with Washington.

The US "should explain why they attacked us in the middle of ... negotiations and they have to ensure that they are not going to repeat that", Mr Araghchi said in an interview with The Financial Times published on Thursday. "And they have to compensate [Iran for] the damage that they have done."

He did not give details of what financial compensation might involve.

The report said Mr Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff exchanged messages during the conflict and in the weeks since. But the Iranian Foreign Minister said his country needed confidence-building measures to resume talks. Iran will not agree to "business as usual", he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister insists Iran won't give up nuclear enrichment programme

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“The road to negotiation is narrow but it’s not impossible. I need to convince my hierarchy that, if we go for negotiations, the other side is coming with real determination for a win-win deal,” he said.

The US joined Israel's war on Tehran last month by launching strikes on Iranian nuclear sites that Washington says were part of a programme aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes.

Mr Araghchi acknowledged for the first time that a new uranium enrichment plant near Isfahan was among sites attacked in the conflict. Days before strikes began, Iran said the site would be activated in response to censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“As far as I know, the preparations were made [for enrichment], but it was not active when it was attacked,” Mr Araghchi told The Financial Times.

After the war, Iran suspended co-operation with the IAEA, but Mr Araghchi said he expected to hold talks with the UN nuclear watchdog next month over a new “modality of co-operation”.

The war has given rise to greater resistance within Iran’s ruling establishment against negotiations with Washington, he said. It has also deepened mistrust of US President Donald Trump, he added.

“Anti-negotiation feelings are very high,” Mr Araghchi said. “People are telling me, ‘Don’t waste your time any more, don’t be cheated by them ... if they come to negotiations it’s only a cover-up for their other intentions.’”

Despite the war, Mr Araghchi said Tehran was still capable of enriching uranium. “Buildings can be rebuilt. Machines can be replaced, because the technology is there. We have plenty of scientists and technicians who used to work in our facilities,” he said. “But when and how we restart our enrichment depends on the circumstances.”