Iran open to N-Talks with U.S., rules out missile curbs demand

Iran’s top security chief Ali Larijani, said Tehran was open to nuclear talks with the United States but rejected Washington’s insistence on restrictions of Tehran’s ballistic missile program, which he termed “unrealizable”.

“The path to negotiations with the United States is not closed. The Americans only talk about talks and do not come to the negotiating table and wrongly say that the Islamic Republic does not negotiate while we are seeking rational talks,” Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Larijani said in a post on X.

The remarks by the newly-appointed SNSC secretary were made after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Aug. 28 that Washington was seeking direct talks with Iran on ending its nuclear program and welcomed the move by France, Britain, and Germany (E3) to trigger the snapback mechanism to reimpose UN nuclear sanctions on Tehran.

Iran and the U.S. were engaged in mediated negotiations, which were disrupted last June by Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, followed by the US bombing of Iran’s civilian nuclear sites under the UN safeguards. After five rounds of indirect talks, they were going to discuss draft documents on enrichment by Iran. 

Last month, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian appointed the veteran politician Larijani as secretary of the influential security body in a development believed to further the president’s moderate foreign policy by the pragmatic conservative figure.

The 67-year-old politician is a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and was re-assigned at the helm of the SNSC, which oversees and shapes Iran’s foreign and security policy.

He first served as the SNSC secretary from August 2005 to October 2007 and was Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator with the European powers during his first term in the council.

His re-appointment at the crucial position in the country’s national security architecture -- following the two-time disqualification for running inthe  presidential election -- came days after the SNSC approved setting up the National Defense Council.

In his recent post, while leaving the door open for future talks, Larijani also said that the U.S. demands to restrict Iran’s missile program are blocking a return to the stalled nuclear negotiations.

“By raising issues that they themselves know are unrealizable, such as missile restrictions, they are proposing a model that practically eliminates the path to negotiations,” said the moderate conservative.

Iran has rejected limits on its advanced ballistic missile program, which proved a vital deterrent and a crucial long-range strike capability against adversaries like Israel and the U.S. during the 12-day war last June.

The indigenous strategic asset, as Iranian officials have reiterated, has turned it to a non-negotiable advantage for Tehran.

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