Confident that we can achieve a deal with the US: Iran FM

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CNN’s Fred Pleitgen on Sunday that he was “confident that we can achieve a deal” with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program.

 “Unfortunately, we have lost our trust (in) the US as a negotiating partner,” he said, but the exchange of messages through friendly countries in the region was facilitating “fruitful” talks with the US.

 There appeared to be similar optimism on the US side this weekend. Aboard Air Force One, Saturday, US President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran was “talking to us, seriously talking to us.”

 Refusing to promise that Iran would engage in direct talks with US negotiators, Araghchi highlighted the need to address the “substance of negotiations” rather than the form.

 His remarks came as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, struck a defiant tone, warning that any US strike on Iran would result in a regional war.

“Let’s not talk about impossible things,” he said, “And not lose the opportunity to achieve a fair and equitable deal to ensure no nuclear weapons. That, as I said, is achievable even in a short period of time.”

 In return, Araghchi said that Tehran would expect the lifting of US sanctions, which have been a yoke around the neck of the Iranian economy for more than a decade, as well as respect for Iran’s right to continue nuclear enrichment for peaceful purposes.

 If talks fail, Iran was ready for war, Araghchi promised, although a conflict would likely spiral beyond Iran, he said, echoing Khamenei’s comments.

But a war, “would be a disaster for everybody,” Araghchi said, and US bases across the region would be targets for Iran’s military, which had seen the limitations and strengths of its missile arsenal in last year’s 12-day war against Israel.