NEW YORK, July 22. /TASS/. Tehran admits the possibility of holding direct talks with Washington on the Iranian nuclear program in the future if the US deals with Iran on an equal footing, the republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Fox News.
"Not for the time being, but maybe in the future," he said when asked whether any direct contacts between the Iranian side and the administration of US President Donald Trump could take place at some point. "Everything depends on whether the United States is ready to deal with Iran on an equal footing, on mutual respect and on mutual interests," the minister added.
Iran is "very skeptical with Americans right now" after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program "didn't become a successful story, didn't become a successful experience for us," Araghchi said. "This is why we are not ready to engage with them [US administration] directly. But the moment we feel that everything is in a right order, then everything is possible," he stressed.
In 2015, Iran, along with the UK, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), resolving a crisis that began in 2002 amid Western accusations that Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons. However, in 2018, Trump announced the US exit from the JCPOA and reinstated all sanctions against Iran. In response, Iran declared in 2020 that it would scale back its commitments under the JCPOA and restrict access for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. Negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear deal, held in Vienna from 2021 to 2022, ended without a resolution. Upon returning to the White House in 2025, Trump signed an executive order to reintroduce a policy of maximum pressure on Iran, threatening military action if Tehran did not agree to a new deal with Washington.