Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran ready to work with world powers to resolve nuclear standoff
Iran is ready to end its nuclear standoff with the West, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, while calling for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine through dialogue. Iran’s clerical establishment seeks an easing of U.S. sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy.
“We are ready to engage with participants of the 2015 nuclear deal. If the deal’s commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, dialogue on other issues can follow,” Pezeshkian said.
Then-President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and six world powers in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran. Efforts to revive the pact have failed.
The 2015 deal, which Trump abandoned in 2018, had capped Iran’s uranium enrichment at 3.67% purity and limited its stockpile of this material to 202.8 kg (447 pounds)—limits Tehran has since far exceeded.
For Britain, France, and Germany, who remain party to the nuclear deal, there is a sense that Tehran’s leadership will not change course, and that a broader accord encompassing the nuclear program and Iran’s geopolitical role is unrealistic for now.
The United States, its European allies, and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear program as a cover to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., on September 24, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Tehran’s relations with the West have worsened since the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, and as Tehran has increased its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Pezeshkian, a relatively moderate politician who took office in August promising a pragmatic foreign policy, criticized Iran’s arch-foe Israel for what he called “its genocide in Gaza.”
“It is imperative that the international community should immediately secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon before it engulfs the region and the world,” he said.
An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior commander of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon on Tuesday, as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war.
“We seek peace for all and have no intention of conflict with any country. Iran opposes war and emphasizes the need for an immediate cessation of military conflict in Ukraine,” Pezeshkian said.
Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and has said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the Islamic state.
Iran has brokered secret talks between Russia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels to transfer anti-ship missiles to that militant group, three Western and regional sources said, a development that highlights Tehran’s deepening ties to Moscow.
Credit: Reuters
