TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that when he arrived in the United States earlier this month to accompany President Masoud Pezeshkian to his address at the UN General Assembly, he had also brought proposals aimed at securing a negotiated settlement of outstanding issues with the West over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We have always been ready for talks and a diplomatic solution,” said the top Iranian diplomat in an interview with CNN. “Last week, I came to New York with fair, balanced and constructive proposals, so that we would be able to work out a diplomatic solution to this crisis, but the proposals were rejected by the U.S. and the three European countries and they opted for an immediate reinstatement of the sanctions (the so-called Snapback Mechanism), which further complicated the problems.”

The JCPOA required Iran to scale back certain nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. However, the U.S. withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reinstated the sanctions it had previously lifted. After the U.S. exit, the European signatories failed to uphold their commitments and made little effort to preserve the agreement. In the latest blow to the deal, pre-JCPOA UN sanctions on Iran were reimposed last week after Europe triggered the process to restore them.

During his interview with CNN, Araghchi underlined Iran’s full abidance by the JCPOA, lambasting Washington for unilaterally pulling out of the deal. “We have never wanted to possess nuclear weapons and we proved this when we signed, in 2015, the JCPOA with members of the 5+1 Group, including the United States,” he said.

“We implemented the deal in good faith and lived up to all of our commitments,” said Araghchi, adding, “When the U.S. withdrew from the agreement, it had no justifiable reason to do so as numerous reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stressed that Iran had fully complied with its obligations.”

“We have had a bitter and unpleasant experience with the United States two times. Once we reached a deal but they pulled out of it, and once again we held talks this year but they attacked us,” the Iranian foreign minister noted.

Araghchi also touched upon Washington’s military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites that happened in June ahead of a scheduled sixth round of indirect negotiations. “The United States attacked our nuclear facilities and [uranium] enrichment centers and destroyed and heavily damaged them, but this military operation failed to resolve the issue because the technology is available and locally developed,” he underscored.

“If there are any concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, the solution should be a diplomatic one, and we have always been prepared for negotiations and a diplomatic solution,” he said.  Araghchi added military action did not help solve the problem.

“They tried the military option, but it failed to resolve the issue. Now, they are acting through the Snapback Mechanism, which will not solve the problem, either, and will only add to complexities and difficulties and make the diplomatic solution harder,” said the Iranian foreign minister.

Araghchi also lashed out at the United Nations for targeting Iran with sanctions while turning a blind eye to the Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza.

“We are entitled to enrich uranium. We have never violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and have always acted in accordance with international regulations, and all we want is to enjoy our legal rights,” he explained.

Years of ineffective diplomacy and the June war have pushed several political factions in Iran away from negotiating with the West on the nuclear issue. In recent days, dozens of Iranian lawmakers have banded together to draft a bill that would require the government to withdraw from the NPT. Some have also called for a change in Iran’s nuclear doctrine, but the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has yet to alter a fatwa (religious decree) issued years earlier that bans Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.

The Leader has, however, ruled out new talks with the U.S. as long as Washington seeks to predetermine the outcome of negotiations, puts forth unacceptable demands, and continues to threaten Iran. “Talks with the U.S. under the current circumstances are nothing but a deadlock,” Ayatollah Khamenei said during a live televised address last week.