Iran Won’t Give In to US’ Maximum Pressure: Deputy FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran has kept the door open to negotiations with the next US administration, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said, but warned Donald Trump that any attempt to reimpose “maximum pressure” on Iran would fail to extract concessions.
Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, told the Financial Times in an interview that coercion and intimidation would prove ineffective in the long-running stand-off between Iran and the West over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.
“As for negotiations, we need to observe US policy and decide how to respond accordingly,” Takht Ravanchi said in his office at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. “Right now, the key question is how the new administration will approach Iran, the nuclear issue, regional security and the Middle East. It’s premature to speculate about specific outcomes.”
He said the nuclear deal reached with the West in 2015, from which Trump later withdrew the US, “could still serve as a foundation and be updated to reflect new realities”. He added that “if the other parties return to their commitments, we have repeatedly said that we are willing to do the same”.
“We do favor negotiations, as we proved (with that deal)… But who sabotaged the negotiations previously? It was the Trump administration who was unwilling to negotiate,” he added.
At the same time, the veteran diplomat and former nuclear negotiator warned that if Trump again takes a tough approach, “maximum pressure will be met with maximum resistance”.
“We will continue to work around sanctions, diversify our trade partners and strengthen regional relations to maintain calm,” he added.
Takht Ravanchi also downplayed the potential for tighter oil sanctions under a second Trump presidency.
“While developments may occur, they won’t lead to significant changes,” he said. “If the Trump administration decides to pursue the maximum pressure policy in the oil market again, it will surely fail. In today’s world, no single country can dictate terms to the entire international community.”
For now, he said, “We hope he doesn’t repeat the same mistake because the outcome will be no different.”
“The Trump administration claimed that it would bring Iran to the negotiating table (during his first term), but failed to do so. It is up to them to practice the same approach for another four years and fail again. But that is an irrational thing to do,” Takht Ravanchi stated.
He further denied media reports that claimed that Iran’s UN ambassador Saeed Iravani last week met Elon Musk, the US entrepreneur and close Trump ally.
“No such meeting took place… Had such a meeting occurred, we would have been very transparent about it,” Takht Ravanchi said, adding that Iranian ambassadors customarily meet non-official figures such as academics.
On the US assassination of Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Takht Ravanchi said only that “our judiciary has initiated legal proceedings and will continue along this path based on our principles”.
Takht Ravanchi said Iran “does not seek war, confrontations or tensions, even though it is prepared to confront any imposed war”.
He said, however, that Tehran would keep supporting its allies in the “axis of resistance” against Israel. “We continue to support the resistance movement. That is the policy of the Islamic Republic and will not change.”