TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday (Aug 4) it would hold the United States accountable for attacks on its nuclear sites in any future negotiations, while ruling out direct talks with Washington.
The US struck key Iranian nuclear facilities on Jun 22, briefly joining a war launched by Israel that had derailed talks on Tehran’s atomic programme.
“In any potential negotiation … the issue of holding the United States accountable and demanding compensation for committing military aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities will be one of the topics on the agenda,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a press briefing on Monday.
Asked whether Iran would engage in direct talks with the United States, Baqaei said: “No.”
In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented attack targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, but also hitting residential areas over 12 days of war. US forces joined with attacks on nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
The fighting derailed talks that began in April and had been the highest-level contact between Tehran and Washington since the United States abandoned in 2018 a landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Following the war, Tehran suspended cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and demanded guarantees against military action before resuming any negotiations.
Washington has dismissed Tehran’s call for compensation as “ridiculous”.
Baqaei said on Monday that Iran was committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but criticised what he described as the “politicised and unprofessional approach” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The foreign ministry spokesman said that the IAEA’s deputy chief is expected in Iran “in less than 10 days”.
Later on Monday, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, Ebrahim Azizi, said the visiting delegation from the IAEA “will be strictly and exclusively authorised to conduct technical and expert-level discussions with Iranian officials and experts”.
“Under no circumstances will physical access to Iran’s nuclear facilities be granted, and no inspections by this delegation or any other foreign entity will be permitted at the country’s nuclear sites,” the lawmaker said, according to Tasnim news agency.
