TEHRAN: Iran will not take part in talks with the United States over its nuclear programme if Washington insists Tehran abandon uranium enrichment, an adviser to the Islamic republic’s supreme leader said on Monday.

“If the negotiations must be conditioned on stopping enrichment, such negotiations will not take place,” adviser Ali Velayati was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei of plans for a meeting between Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Araghchi and Witkoff met starting in April, without concluding a deal after five rounds of talks that were the highest-level contact between their two countries since Washington in 2018 abandoned a landmark nuclear agreement.

The Omani-mediated negotiations were halted as Israel launched surprise strikes on the nuclear facilities of its staunch enemy Iran on June 13, starting a 12-day war which the United States later joined.

“We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the US, committed military aggression against Iran,” said Baqaei.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2025