Iran president: Country ready to resume nuclear talks without Western ‘pressure’

The president of Iran said Saturday that the country was ready to resume nuclear talks, but added that it would like to do so without “pressure” from Western countries.

“The Westerners and the Americans are after talks together with pressure … What kind of talks is that? I have already announced that we will have talks on our government’s agenda but not with … pressure,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on state TV, according to Reuters.

Raisi stated that one of his goals for the talk would be to get sanctions lifted from Iran. 

“Talks are on the agenda … We are seeking goal-oriented negotiations … so unjust sanctions on the Iranian people are lifted … and their lives can flourish,” Raisi said, according to the wire service.

Talks with Western countries were paused due to Iran’s presidential election in June, and Germany and France are now seeking to resume negotiations. Countries are especially anxious to get Iran back to the negotiating table amid a reports earlier this summer that the country had ramped up uranium enrichment.

A report by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that uranium purity had been enriched by Iran by 60 percent while weapons grade purity was at about 90 percent. 

Iran has said that it is trying to make reactor fuel and that its uranium enrichment is peaceful.

Iran stopped its compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2019, a deal negotiated by former President Obama in 2015 that lifted sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. 

However, former President Trump had pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018, and uranium enrichment levels have since exceeded the 2015 negotiated terms.