Iran Dismisses US Claim of Nuclear Talks Resuming Next Week

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(Bloomberg) — Iran denied that nuclear talks with the US are scheduled to resume, diminishing prospects for diplomacy after President Donald Trump suggested a deal could come as early as next week.

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“I say explicitly that no agreement, arrangement or discussion has taken place regarding the initiation of new negotiations,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with state TV late Thursday. “Some of the speculation about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously.”

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Trump had said on Wednesday that the two sides would talk next week and “may” sign an agreement. That would have been their first such meeting since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel – in which the US intervened by bombing atomic sites – derailed a diplomatic push to resolve tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

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While some Iranian officials including the president have indicated a readiness for talks, they face resistance from others who are especially opposed to engagement in the wake of the conflict.

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Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday claimed his country had won the war, but didn’t say whether talks with the US should resume.

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Nuclear Inspections

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Araghchi also rebuffed a request by United Nations inspectors to assess the extent of the damage at nuclear facilities bombed by the US and Israel, which he described as “considerable and serious.” 

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Iran doesn’t “currently” intend to host International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, he said.

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IAEA staff remained in the country throughout the Israeli campaign but weren’t able to conduct inspections amid the bombing, and Iran has continued to block access even after this week’s ceasefire.

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That means inspectors can’t account for the whereabouts of Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Israel and its allies fear could be used to make a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its atomic program is peaceful. 

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A new law that came into effect on Thursday suspended all cooperation with the IAEA, after officials accused the agency of giving Israel a pretext to launch its attacks by saying it couldn’t determine whether Iran’s nuclear program is “exclusively peaceful.”

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It’s not yet clear how the government will implement the law. Iran can only end cooperation if it formally withdraws from an international accord that seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, a more escalatory step that it’s so far stopped short of taking.

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(Adds detail in section on nuclear inspections, adds line on Supreme Leader’s speech in fifth paragraph.)

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