Araghchi also stressed that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon [Getty/file photo]
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s reimposition of a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran will end in “failure” as it did during his first term.
“I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure,” Araghchi told reporters following a cabinet meeting, adding that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.
During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, withdrawing the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, and reimposing biting sanctions.
The deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.
Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an order reinstating the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran over allegations that the country is seeking a nuclear weapons capability.
Iran denies any such ambition, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
“If the main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, it is achievable and is not much of a problem,” Araghchi said.
A longstanding religious decree, or fatwa, issued by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, prohibits Iran from possessing a nuclear arsenal.
On Wednesday, Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying “Iran does not have, and will not have a nuclear weapons programme”.
In January, before Trump returned to the White House, Iranian officials held nuclear talks with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany.
Both sides described the talks as “frank and constructive”.
Earlier this month, Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi said a new round of talks was expected to be held “within a month” but the “date has not been confirmed yet.”
Additionally, Iran’s oil minister said imposing unilateral sanctions on crude producers would destabilise energy markets, the ministry’s SHANA news outlet reported on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump said he would seek to drive Tehran’s oil exports to zero.
“Depoliticising the oil market is a vital issue for energy security. Imposing unilateral sanctions against major oil producers and putting pressure on OPEC will destabilise oil and energy markets as well as harm consumers around the world,” Mohsen Paknejad told OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais.
Paknejad also told state TV on Wednesday that Tehran had prepared strategies for any situation regarding US sanctions.
On broader energy matters, Paknejad said the most important challenge for the global oil market in the medium to long-term was the issue of upstream investments.
“If today some major oil consumers are concerned about oil supply, this is the result of their political actions putting pressure on OPEC+ and pushing for regulatory restrictions on new upstream investments,” he said.
Paknejad was elected in December as president of the OPEC Conference for 2025.Â
