The News
Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran is ready to negotiate over its nuclear program shortly after meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Thursday.
“Iran has never left the negotiation table on its peaceful nuclear program,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a statement posted on X, warning that Tehran would not respond to “pressure and intimidation.”
IAEA head Rafael Grossi said the “space for negotiation and diplomacy… is getting smaller,” in regards to Iran’s nuclear development, which is on the cusp of being able to produce nuclear weapons.
The IAEA has long sought to conduct closer inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities, and European countries are pushing for the UN nuclear watchdog to put further pressure on Iran for its lack of cooperation, Reuters reported.
SIGNALS
Iranian officials debate whether to develop the bomb
Iranian officials have started talking openly about the possibility of developing nuclear weapons, a dramatic shift for a topic that has long been taboo because of a fatwa from Iran’s supreme leader banning nuclear weapons. A former foreign minister said Iran had prepared everything it needed to make a bomb, and nearly 40 lawmakers sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council requesting permission to produce nuclear arms. There is no evidence that Iran has moved to build a nuclear weapon, and US officials have said they are confident they would quickly detect such a step. While Iran could produce enough high-grade uranium to make a nuclear payload within a week, developing a usable weapon would likely take months.
Some Iranian officials hope for a Trump nuclear deal
Moderates in Tehran’s government have started to hope that Trump’s re-election might allow them to negotiate a lasting nuclear deal, The New York Times reported. They anticipate that the president-elect’s penchant for cutting deals and his influence over Republicans could make a future agreement more lasting than the Obama-era 2015 nuclear pact, which Trump pulled out of. Speaking on a podcast in October, Trump said, “I would like to see Iran be very successful. The only thing is, they can’t have a nuclear weapon.” But Trump’s early picks for key national security roles, like Elise Stefanik and Marco Rubio are noted Iran hawks, and people briefed on Trump’s plans expect a “maximum pressure” campaign to weaken Tehran, The Wall Street Journal reported.