Iran dismisses reports on ‘compromise’ in nuclear deal talks

Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said late Saturday that Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei made no mention of compromise to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani when they met in Tehran earlier this month.

Ayatollah Khamenei told Sheikh Tamim that Iran has “always said the negotiations must yield results, not waste time”, and that “the Americans know what they need to do regarding this”, Khatibzadeh told Tasnim News Agency.

“It is very clear from the context of the Leader’s remarks that the ball is in the US court, which must make wise political decisions to fulfill its obligations,” he said.

The comments come after Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was quoted as saying in the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the “Iranian leadership” had expressed readiness for a “compromise” concerning “the Iranian nuclear file”.

Khatibzadeh suggested a mistranslation of comments may have occurred.

“There is a media and propaganda mischief,” he said.

On Friday, Sheikh Tamim expressed optimism that an agreement on the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal could be achieved, voicing readiness to help in the matter, Reuters wrote.

Direct talks between Iran and France, Britain, Germany, China, Russia and with the United States indirectly to resurrect the JCPOA have been on hold since March over the US refusal to meet Iran’s key demands including the removal of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) from its list of designated “terrorist” organizations.

Iran maintains that the IRGC’s designation in 2019 was part of former president Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and, therefore, it has to be reversed unconditionally.