Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks in an interview with Turkey’s nationwide Habertürk TV channel on Saturday, following the second round of diplomatic talks between Iran and the European troika, France, Britain, and Germany, held the previous day in Istanbul.
The closed-door meeting, which lasted more than three hours, was attended by deputy foreign ministers Takht-Ravanchi and Kazem Gharibabadi, along with senior representatives from the E3 countries. It followed a similar session held on May 16 in the same city.
Takht-Ravanchi noted that Iran and the United States have been exchanging messages through intermediary nations facilitating communication between the two sides.
He pointed out that Tehran and Washington were in indirect negotiations, mediated by Oman, when the Israeli regime carried out acts of aggression against the Islamic Republic, which the US later joined.
“This was a betrayal of diplomacy, this was an attack on diplomacy,” he emphasized.
“Therefore, before starting a new round of negotiations with the United States, we must receive guarantees that we will not face similar attacks again. It is essential for us that they will not betray diplomacy again,” he pointed out.
He said the Israeli regime and the US have surprised Iran by conducting their war of aggression, adding, “We do not want the same show to be repeated. The United States must convince us that it will not do such a thing this time."
He insisted that the negotiations should be based on the principle of a win-win policy and reiterated that Iran would never accept “any kind of imposition” from the US.
Iran and the United States held five rounds of indirect talks on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program before June 13, when the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked act of aggression on the Islamic Republic, assassinating many high-ranking military commanders and nuclear scientists in addition to ordinary civilians.
Mediated by Oman, the 6th round of talks was planned to be held in the Omani capital of Muscat on June 15, but was called off due to the Israeli attacks.
On June 22, the United States officially joined the war against Iran by launching attacks on three nuclear facilities in the country in violation of the United Nations Charter and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Elsewhere in his comments, Takht-Ravanchi said that during the Friday talks, Iran and the E3 discussed the technical aspects of Tehran’s nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions, with Iran emphasizing once again that uranium enrichment must be an integral part of any agreement.
He reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program and added that, based on a religious decree issued by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic does not seek nuclear weapons.
“Enrichment will be continued (in Iran) for peaceful purposes within the framework of the NPT (the Non-Proliferation Treaty) and will not be stopped,” the top diplomat pointed out.
Speaking at the end of the talks in Istanbul, Takht-Ravanchi said Tehran insists on its “absolute” right to enrichment inside the country as a member of the NPT.
“Enrichment, which is among our absolute rights, should be continued inside the country,” he added.