US open to deal with ‘new govt’ in Iran, says White House

Senior Trump administration officials signalled that Washington could move quickly to reach a diplomatic agreement with Iran if a new government emerges in Tehran and abandons nuclear weapons ambitions ballistic missile threats and support for militant proxy groupsIn fact the United States would be prepared to offer sanctions relief and economic engagement if a future Iranian leadership integrates into the regional security framework and complies with strict nuclear restrictions according to two senior administration officials familiar with the current thinking of the Trump AdministrationldquoThe door will be wide open if a new government comes in and says wersquore ready to get along with everyone in the region and follow the simple criteria that most normal countries followrdquo a Senior Trump Administration Official said The two officials spoke on condition of anonymityThe official said those conditions include ending support for proxy groups across the Middle East halting missile threats against neighbouring states and ensuring Iranrsquos nuclear programme remains strictly civilianldquoIf a new government comes in and says wersquore ready to get along with everyone in the region and follow the simple criteria that most normal countries follow then the administration will be ready to engage and do a very quick dealrdquo the official saidThe remarks offered a glimpse of Washingtonrsquos thinking about the political future of Iran as tensions escalate following US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilitiesNoting that the United States remains focused on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons while keeping open the possibility of diplomatic engagement if Tehran changes course the official said any future agreement would require Iran to abandon uranium enrichment capable of producing weaponsgrade material and accept verifiable restrictions monitored by international inspectorsldquoWe are working on what a sanctions relief package could be in the future if there is a framework agreed to with a new government that actually lives by all of those different standardsrdquo said the officialThey said the United States had repeatedly offered Iran opportunities during negotiations to pursue a civilian nuclear programme with international oversight but those efforts failed to produce an agreement acceptable to WashingtonDuring the talks US negotiators also proposed providing nuclear fuel for civilian reactors if Iran agreed to stop domestic enrichment The officials said the proposal was intended to test whether Iranrsquos nuclear programme was genuinely aimed at peaceful energy production rather than weapons capabilityThey argued that Tehranrsquos refusal to accept the offer reinforced concerns that Iran wanted to preserve its enrichment capacityldquoThey basically offered us a lot of political wins and some concessions but they were unwilling to give up the building blocks of what they needed to preserve in order to get to a bombrdquo the official saidThe briefing came as Washington continues military operations targeting Iranian nuclear infrastructure following what the administration described as intelligence indicating Tehranrsquos programme was nearing a dangerous thresholdIran has long maintained that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes while Western governments have accused it of pursuing the capability to develop nuclear weaponsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever