Nuclear: Iran warns it will not negotiate under pressure

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Thursday that his country would not negotiate “under intimidation” over its nuclear program, after a meeting in Tehran with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, also assured that the Islamic Republic would react “immediately” in the event of foreign pressure. Mr. Grossi considered it crucial that “working together” with Iran leads to “results” to “avoid war”.

Rafael Grossi's visit to Iran comes a few weeks before the arrival at the White House of Donald Trump who, during his first term (2017-2021), had been the architect of a policy known as “maximum pressure” against Iran, re-establishing heavy sanctions against Tehran.

“We are ready to negotiate on the basis of our national interests and inalienable rights, but we are NOT ready to negotiate under pressure and intimidation,” wrote Mr. Araghchi, who in 2015 was the chief negotiator on the Iranian side of the nuclear talks with the major powers, on the social network X.

Shortly afterwards, at a press conference with Mr. Grossi, Mr. Eslami indicated that “any interventionist resolution (by the IAEA, editor's note) in the nuclear affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with immediate countermeasures.”

– Avoiding “war” –

Mr. Grossi considered it “indispensable to obtain concrete results (…) which will show that this joint work improves the situation (…) and in general moves us away from conflicts and, ultimately, from war.”

“Iran's nuclear facilities must not be attacked,” he also said in response to a question, while Israel Katz, Israel's defense minister, whose country is considered by experts to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, judged Monday that Iran was “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities.”

Mr. Grossi indicated that he would visit two uranium enrichment sites in the center of the country on Friday.

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“I will go to the important facilities of Fordo and Natanz,” in order to “get a complete idea of ​​the evolution of the program,” he declared, according to a video transmitted by the IAEA to AFP.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi (c) arrives for a meeting with the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on November 14, 2024 in Tehran © AFP – Atta KENARE

The talks in Tehran by Mr. Grossi, who is also due to meet Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, are seen as one of the last chances for the diplomacy before Donald Trump's return to the White House.

In 2015, Iran and several countries including the United States reached an agreement in Vienna after 21 months of negotiations. The text provided for an easing of international sanctions targeting Iran, in exchange for guarantees that the country would not seek to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran fiercely denies having such military ambitions.

Three years later, Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and reimposed heavy sanctions against Iran.

Since then, the country has considerably increased its reserves of materials enriched to 60%, close to the 90% needed to develop an atomic weapon, according to the IAEA.

The nuclear agreement capped this rate at 3.65%.

It is in this context that Mr. Grossi is returning to Iran after a first visit this year in May.

– Cameras unplugged –

Iran has significantly reduced inspections of its nuclear sites since 2021. Surveillance cameras have been disconnected and the accreditation of a group of experts has been withdrawn.

Nuclear facilities in Iran © AFP – Sylvie HUSSON, Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Sabrina BLANCHARD

In 1970, Iran ratified the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which requires signatory states to declare and place their nuclear materials under the control of the IAEA.

Several Iranian officials have publicly questioned in recent years the question of possessing the atomic bomb as a tool of deterrence, in a context of heightened tensions with Israel.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989 and the ultimate decision-maker in the country's sensitive issues, particularly nuclear issues, has banned any use of atomic weapons in a religious decree.

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