The Iranian foreign minister made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Russia Today’s Worlds Apart program, conducted during his trip to Moscow last week. The interview was released on Sunday on the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s Telegram account.
The interview focused on Iran’s nuclear issue, which remains unresolved following US-Israeli attacks on Iran in June, including strikes on its nuclear facilities. The attacks took place during the 12-day war that Israel waged beginning on June 13, three days before a sixth round of talks between Tehran and Washington on the nuclear issue.
Despite the attacks, Iran announced that it remained ready for diplomatic engagement to resolve the standoff, but only on the basis of respect and without pressure or threats.
Responding to a question about whether the current US administration is able to take an approach consistent with that Iranian policy, Araghchi said, “It depends if they come to the conclusion that negotiation is different from dictation. We are already ready for a fair and balanced deal, a negotiated deal, but we are not prepared for a diktat. So, if they approach us for a fair and balanced idea, for a negotiated solution which is based on mutual benefits of both sides, then we would consider.”
Further elaborating, the top diplomat referred to “bad experiences” Iran has faced in recent years, including in 2025, when it was attacked while in the middle of talks with the United States, and later in the year when its proposals to prevent the invocation of the so-called snapback mechanism were rejected by Western countries including Britain, France, and Germany—collectively known as the E3—under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which restored UN Security Council sanctions lifted under the accord.
“We introduced good ideas, but they were all rejected. And then after that, we came to the conclusion that enough is enough. They are not prepared for a fair deal. So, we must wait until that come to the point and then, we can talk.”
Araghchi emphasized that Iran upholds the right to the peaceful use of nuclear technology, despite the fact that its nuclear facilities were damaged “seriously” in the June attacks.
“There is also another fact that our technology is still there and technology cannot be bombed, and our determination is also there. We have a very legitimate right for peaceful use of nuclear technology, including enrichment, and we want to exercise our right,” he said.
The minister added that nuclear technology in Iran is indigenous and that the country has made great sacrifices to attain it, ranging from sanctions to the June “destructive war.”
“We cannot give our right up, but at the same time, we are prepared to give full confidence that our program is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever,” he said, noting that the United States should recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium.
On the possibility of a new war, Araghchi said Iran does not rule out another conflict but is fully prepared for it, even more prepared than during the June war, which he called a “failed experience.”
“This doesn’t mean that we welcome another war, but it is exactly to prevent the war, and the best way to prevent the war is to be prepared for that, and we are fully prepared and we have actually recovered everything which was damaged in the past aggression...If they want to repeat the same failed experience, [they are free to do that,] but they don’t get any better results.”
IRNA