Security chief: Iran's red lines clear, everything depends on US behavior

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian says the Islamic Republic’s red lines are quite clear in the indirect talks with the US, stressing that everything depends on the US behavior.

Speaking during a gathering of senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran Thursday, Ahmadian said the results of the ongoing negotiations with Washington are unpredictable.

“As for the content and outcome of the negotiations, nothing can be predicted; of course, our red lines are entirely clear, and everything depends on the US’s behavior and the circumstances,” he said.

Iran and the US have so far held three rounds of Oman-mediated talks on a replacement for the 2015 nuclear deal. The fourth round had initially been scheduled for May 3 in the Italian capital, but it was postponed due to what Oman described as “technical and logistical” reasons.

Both sides have so far described their indirect talks as generally productive, including the last round, which was billed as a “constructive” process.

“Just as direct negotiations under conditions of coercion and threat are unwise and dishonorable, negotiations under equal conditions and free from threats and coercion are rational and honorable,” Ahmadian stressed.

Tehran’s peaceful nuclear policy has been verified unexceptionally by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has never found any indication of such pursuit, as it has put the country’s nuclear activities under the most extensive investigative processes compared to any other member of the United Nations nuclear agency.

Washington and some allies occasionally demanded the complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear energy program, most notably during US President Donald Trump’s remarks on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

In response, Iran has firmly declared that domestic uranium enrichment and the lifting of the  US’s sanctions against the Islamic Republic are non-negotiable.

Iran has also roundly rejected the notion of allowing the diplomatic process to take other issues other than its nuclear program, such as its defensive might and regional influence, into consideration.