Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili today offered to hold new nuclear talks beginning on September 1 if a handful of conditions were met by Western officials in return.
Primary among those demands were that Western nations would stop making threats to attack the nation and instead commit to diplomacy. Jalili also suggested that, as part of the push for a nuclear free Middle East, Western officials should take a clear position on Israel’s nuclear arsenal. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with nuclear weapons.
The offer from Jalili was submitted to the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. EU officials said the report was “good news” but insisted any talks must focus on Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
The US State Department also suggested they would potentially be willing to meet if Iran was “serious” but that they would continue to pursue a two-track approach, with the other track, presumably, being the one with endless additional sanctions and occasional threats to attack Iran.