Iran says open to direct nuclear talks with US

For the first time Monday, Iran said it was open to direct nuclear negotiations with the United States, which declared it was ready to hold talks urgently - in a possible turning point in efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear accord.

Tehran has been engaged in talks with the five other world powers that are still part of the agreement, which offered sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

After withdrawn in 2018 under President Donald Trump, Washington has been indirectly involved in the Vienna negotiations, which seek to bring the United States back into the nuclear accord and ensure that Iran returns to its commitments.

Washington has said it would prefer to hold direct talks on multiple occasions, and Iran's foreign minister said on Monday that he would consider doing so if it proved to be the key to a good deal to salvage the floundering deal.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said if we get to a point in the negotiation process that a good agreement with solid guarantees requires a level of talks with the US, we will not ignore that in our work schedule.

A US State Department spokeswoman reiterated after the Iranian comments that the United States is prepared to meet directly. The spokesperson said that it would be more productive to engage with Iran directly on both the JCPOA negotiations and other issues, as well as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The official said that given the pace of Iran's nuclear advances, we are almost out of time to reach an agreement on mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA.

Iran is currently negotiating with the deal's other signatories: Germany, France, China and Britain. The talks, which started last April, were suspended two months later as Iran elected ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi, resuming in late November.

US-Iran ties have been severed since April 1980, just months after the fall of the shah and the occupation of the American Embassy by Islamist students loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

After Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal and imposed biting economic sanctions, relations worsened, prompting Tehran to roll back its own commitments.

Prior to any direct talks, Iran has stated that the United States must change course and return to the nuclear deal.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on major issues including nuclear policy, said earlier this month that negotiating with the enemy does not mean surrendering.

The bullying of the enemy shouldn't be tolerated, he said, referring to the US.

In a speech from Khamenei, negotiating with the enemy some time for example is another thing - us interacting with them is another thing.

Some analysts had been interpreting these remarks as a tacit signal for possible talks with the US, as was the case in the buildup to the 2015 nuclear accord.

On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said it was possible to reach an agreement on both the release of Iranian and US prisoners and the nuclear deal.

They are two different paths, but if the US has the determination, there is a possibility that we reach a reliable and lasting agreement in both of them in the shortest time, spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters.

The US envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said he was not sure if Washington would strike an agreement on the nuclear deal unless Tehran releases four of its citizens in response to comments made by Khatibzadeh.

The four US citizens are Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi, 50, his father Baquer, 85, as well as the environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 66, and businessman Emad Sharqi, 57.

The two countries have released each other's citizens in the past.