Iran’s foreign minister said that Iran is open to negotiations with the United States, but only if it removes sanctions against the regime.
Amid ongoing tension between the two countries, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told NBC News that Iran is not looking to go to war with the U.S. and would be open to negotiate if the Trump administration lifts the wide array of sanctions it has imposed since 2017.
“Once those sanctions are lifted, then … the room for negotiation is wide open,” Zarif said in the Monday interview.
The U.S. lifting sanctions is unlikely, as just last week President Trump said sanctions against Iran would “soon be increased, substantially.” Iran recently began enriching uranium beyond the levels set forward in the 2015 nuclear treaty, further ratcheting up acrimony between the two nations. Zarif said that Iran is not looking to acquire a nuclear arsenal but noted that it had the ability to do so.
“Had we been interested in developing nuclear weapons, we would have been able to do it long time ago,” he said. Zarif also said he doesn’t think Trump is looking to go to war but believes some of Trump’s advisers are.
“I do not believe that President Trump wants war. But I believe that people are around him who wouldn’t mind,” Zarif said. “I think President Trump has been on the record that they are trying, but I don’t think they’ll succeed because at the end of the day, I think prudence will prevail.”
“People know that Iran is a big proud country, and we will not take a military attack lightly,” he added.
The U.S. recently announced sanctions against Iran’s supreme leader and top officials, and last week said that it would begin sanctioning Iranian-backed Hezbollah officials in Lebanon. Last month, the U.S. planned airstrikes against Iranian facilities in response to the downing of a U.S. drone, but Trump called off the attack at the last moment, fearing casualties.
