Iran Sets Preconditions for Nuclear Talks, Rejects Immediate US Talks

Iran will not return to negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program unless specific preconditions are clearly defined and fully satisfied, the Iranian parliament declared on Wednesday.

"When the US uses negotiations as a tool to deceive Iran and cover up a sudden military attack by the Zionist regime [Israel], talks cannot be conducted as before. Preconditions must be set and no new negotiations can take place until they are fully met," the parliament said, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

Iran and the US held five rounds of consultations on Tehran’s nuclear program between April and May. The sixth round of talks between the two countries’ delegations was scheduled for June 15. However, the negotiation process was frozen due to Israel’s military operation against Iran and the ensuing US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel took effect on June 24.

The Iranian authorities said that they had never refused to negotiate, yet stressed that they needed guarantees from the US that there would be no new acts of aggression against the country. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on July 15 that Tehran and Washington had not yet reached an agreement on the time and location for the new round of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.