Possibility of changing Tehran’s nuclear doctrine
Kamal Kharrazi noted that “up to now, we have not decided to go further than 60% enrichment”
Tehran may reconsider its nuclear doctrine in the event of an existential threat, Kamal Kharrazi, foreign affairs adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview with Financial Times .
“We are not for building nuclear weapons,” Kharrazi stressed, citing a fatwa issued by Khamenei in 2003 banning the development of the arms. However, he said that if Iran faced an existential threat, “naturally we [would] have to change our doctrine.” He expressed the same idea in an interview with Al Jazeera in May.
Speaking of the Iranian nuclear deal and the consequences of the US leaving it in 2018, Kharrazi noted that had the West triggered “snapback” provisions to reimpose UN sanctions lifted when Tehran signed the deal, in response to Iran’s continued expansion of its program, “there would be a severe reaction from Iran in terms of changing its nuclear strategy.”
The politician added that “up to now, we have not decided to go further than 60% enrichment.” “But we have been trying to expand our experience by using different machines and different set-ups,” he added.
Speaking of a presidential election run-off which will be held on July 5, the official noted that the foreign policy approaches of the two candidates, reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and conservative Saeed Jalili, differ and the election may create “new openings” in relations between Iran and the West. However, Western countries will have to retreat “from the current policies and engage in negotiations with Iran based on equal footing and mutual respect.” “If they decide to cooperate, we are ready for cooperation,” Kharrazi added.
The Financial Times noted that currently Iranian diplomats are holding indirect talks with the US in Oman on lifting the sanctions. Kharrazi added that overall, the country’s foreign policy strategy is determined by Khamenei so it will remain the same following the election.
The snap presidential election held in Iran on June 28 following the death of previous leader Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash in May did not produce an absolute winner. There will now be a second round, pitting Pezeshkian (42.5%), a moderate reformist and former health minister, and Jalili (38.6%), who in the past was one of the main negotiators on the Iranian nuclear program, against each other. The vote is slated for July 5. Iran has only once before held a presidential runoff election, in 2005.
Iran’s nuclear deal
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany struck a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 to address the crisis over its nuclear program. Then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, while incumbent President Biden has repeatedly signaled his willingness to bring the US back into the nuclear deal.
Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, the US and France have been in talks with Iran in Vienna since April 2021, seeking to restore the deal in its original form. In November 2022, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said the latest round of talks with Iranian officials ended in the Austrian capital without achieving any specific results.
