Iran Open to Talks with the U.S.—But on Its Own Terms

Tehran: Despite the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, Iran has once again reiterated a bold claim. Recently, Iran proclaimed its willingness to speak with the United States, albeit only under the condition that the nukes’ militarization discussion remains the sole topic of debate.

My conversations will not include missiles

A few days ago, Khamenei announced that he would not negotiate with America to scale Iran’s missile arsenal. Iran's envoy to the United Nations was quoted saying on X, 'Any debate is eligible for consideration as long as it deals exclusively with the nuclear program's military aspects.' The Supreme Leader's comments came in the context of his vision for neutralizing the American threat to Iran.  

I received a letter  

As with all diplomatic correspondence, the letter sent by US President Trump to Iran is said to offer a fresh opportunity for both sides to discuss dismantling the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, as well as replacing the deal the US exited during Trump's first term in office. Khamenei only rolled his eyes at Trump’s comments, pointing out he knows the letter is going to put forth military conditions on Iran’s power in the region. He openly asserted they aren’t solutions to the Western and Iranian conundrum.

'Stopping Iran is the first priority' One thing to note is that while proposing a nuclear peace treaty with Iran, US President Donald Trump offered a warning as well. He stated that if Iran refuses to come to the table, it will be awful for them. Trump had also signed a presidential directive, and a harsh economic boycott of Iran was to be executed by the Department of Treasury. In the course of an interview, he pointed out that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear arms is at the top of his list of things to do.