Iran is ready to consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal with the US if the Americans are willing to discuss lifting sanctions, an Iranian minister has told the BBC.
US officials have repeatedly emphasised that Iran, not the US, is holding up progress in this protracted negotiating process.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump preferred a deal but it was “very hard to do” one with Iran.
But in an interview with the BBC in Tehran, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said the ball was “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal”, adding: “If they are sincere, I’m sure we will be on the road to an agreement.”
Trump has threatened strikes against Iran if a deal to curb its nuclear programme cannot be reached, with the US building up its military presence in the region.
This followed Iran’s violent repression of nationwide anti-government protests last month, which human rights groups say killed many thousands of people.
The US and Iran held indirect talks in the Gulf state of Oman earlier in February, and Takht-Ravanchi, who confirmed a second round was set to take place in Geneva on Tuesday, said they had been “more or less in a positive direction but it is too early to judge”. Trump has also described those talks as positive.
The deputy foreign minister pointed to Tehran’s offer to dilute its 60%-enriched uranium as evidence of its willingness to compromise.
At near weapons-grade level, it has deepened suspicion that the Islamic Republic is moving towards the development of a nuclear weapon, something it has always denied.
“We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our programme if they are ready to talk about sanctions,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC. He would not confirm whether this meant lifting all or some sanctions.
As to whether Iran would agree to ship its stockpile of more than 400kg of highly enriched uranium out of Iran, as it did in the 2015 nuclear deal, Takht-Ravanchi said “it was too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations”.
Russia, which accepted 11,000kg of uranium enriched to a low level as part of the 2015 multilateral accord that Trump pulled out of three years later, has offered to accept this material again.
Other proposals previously reported in the media include an offer from Tehran to temporarily suspend nuclear enrichment.
One of Iran’s main demands has been that talks should focus only on the nuclear file, and Takht-Ravanchi said: “Our understanding is that they have come to the conclusion that if you want to have a deal you have to focus on the nuclear issue.”
If confirmed, this would represent a key step forward for Iran. It has viewed Washington’s maximalist demands for zero enrichment as an obstacle to any deal.
Iran regards that as a red line, a violation of its rights under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC the “issue of zero enrichment is not an issue anymore and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore”. This contradicts comments made by Trump to reporters as recently as Friday that “we don’t want any enrichment”.
Iran’s negotiator also reiterated Tehran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile programme with American negotiators – which has been a key demand of Israel, a country targeted by these rockets.
Its inclusion in any deal, along with Iran’s support to armed groups across the region, has also been emphasised by US officials including Rubio.
“When we were attacked by Israelis and Americans, our missiles came to our rescue so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities,” Takht-Ravanchi stressed.
The senior diplomat, who is playing a key role in the current talks as he did in the negotiations more than a decade ago, also expressed concern about the American president’s conflicting messages.
“We are hearing that they are interested in negotiations,” he said. “They have said it publicly; they have said it in private conversations through Oman that they are interested to have these matters resolved peacefully.”
But in his latest remarks, Trump focused again on regime change, musing: “It seems that would be the best thing that would happen.”
“We are not hearing that in the private messages,” Takht-Ravanchi observed, referring to the notes being passed through Oman’s foreign minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi, who is now the main Arab mediator, with other regional powers also playing a significant role, including Qatar.
Takht-Ravanchi also questioned the US military build-up in the region, warning another war would be “traumatic, bad for everybody… everybody will suffer, particularly those who have initiated this aggression”.
He added: “If we feel this is an existential threat, we will respond accordingly.” As to whether Iran would regard an American campaign as a battle for survival, he replied: “It is not wise to even think about such a very dangerous scenario because the whole region will be in a mess.”
Iran has repeatedly made it clear that US military bases in the region would be regarded as a legitimate target.
In previous attacks, including on the Al-Udeid military base in Qatar after the US struck Iranian nuclear sites last June, Tehran avoided causing American casualties.
Asked about more than 40,000 US soldiers now being posted in the region, Takht-Ravanchi replied “it would be a different game”.
Senior Iranian officials have been engaged in intensive discussions with their counterparts across the region, who have in turn been on the phone to President Trump about the urgency of avoiding a war that would have far-reaching repercussions.
“We see an almost unanimous agreement in the region against war,” Takht-Ravanchi said.
Iran has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to sabotage this negotiating track.
“We are hopeful we can do this through diplomacy, although we can’t be 100% sure,” he reflected, adding Iran has “to be alert so we are not surprised”.
That is a reference to Israel’s unexpected attack last June, which triggered what is now known as the 12-day war, just days before Iran was preparing to meet US Envoy Steve Witkoff for a sixth round of indirect talks in Oman. It has left Tehran with little trust in this process.
Iran is known to have been dismayed by the lack of progress in last year’s talks, with Witkoff understood to have often attended without experts on what is a highly technical matter.
Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, have been critical over understandings reached in one round often being changed by the time of the next meeting.
The presence of the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the last talks in early February has been seen by Iran as a positive signal of greater US engagement.
On the other side, questions have been raised about Iran’s readiness to make the hard compromises essential for any agreement.
Many observers remain sceptical that a new accord is within reach but Takht-Ravanchi said Iran would head to the next round in Geneva with hope that a deal could be done.
“We will do our best but the other side also has to prove that they are also sincere,” he said.
