Iran is ready to consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal with the United States if Washington is willing to discuss lifting sanctions, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Iran has said it is prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, but has repeatedly ruled out linking the issue to other questions including its missile arsenal.

“The ball is in America’s court,” he said, “to prove that they want to do a deal.”

“Sanctions have to also be on the table,” Takht-Ravanchi said, referring to the crippling international sanctions that his country faces, which have contributed to the near-collapse of the Iranian economy.

Takht-Ravanchi confirmed that a second round of nuclear talks would take place on Tuesday in Geneva, after Tehran and Washington resumed discussions in Oman earlier this month.

“(Initial talks went) more or less in a positive direction, but it is too early to judge,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC.

Asked if his country was willing to transfer its stockpile of enriched uranium to a third country, the diplomat said “it was too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations.”

Iran’s atomic chief said on Monday the country could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for all financial sanctions being lifted. Takht-Ravanchi used this example in the BBC interview to highlight Iran’s flexibility, though he pushed back on the idea that Tehran would fully give up its ability to enrich. The “issue of zero enrichment is not an issue anymore and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore,” he said.

The diplomat also pushed back on the idea of giving up Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, which Israel seeks to include in any deal between the Washington and Tehran.

“When we were attacked by Israelis and Americans, our missiles came to our rescue so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities?” Takht-Ravanchi said, referring to last year’s 12-day war with Israel, during which Iran launched hundreds of missiles at Israel, which killed nearly three dozen Israeli civilians and wounded thousands.

“We are hearing that they are interested in negotiations,” the senior diplomat said, though he lamented the mixed messages from the US, noting that what Trump says publicly is different from the messages Iran receives in private. “They have said it publicly; they have said it in private conversations through Oman that they are interested to have these matters resolved peacefully.”

Trump has repeatedly threated to use military force against Iran if the talks fail, and said Friday that regime change “seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.”

“We are not hearing that in the private messages,” Takht-Ravanchi said, adding: “If we feel this is an existential threat, we will respond accordingly.”

“It is not wise to even think about such a very dangerous scenario because the whole region will be in a mess,” he added.

“We see an almost unanimous agreement in the region against war,” he continued. “We are hopeful we can do this through diplomacy, although we can’t be 100 percent sure.”

“We will do our best but the other side also has to prove that they are also sincere,” Takht-Ravanchi said.

A US delegation, including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will meet with the Iranians on Tuesday morning, a source had told Reuters on Friday, with Omani representatives mediating the US-Iran contacts.

Iran, whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.

The Islamic Republic has refused to expand the scope of the negotiations to include its ballistic missile program and support for regional proxy forces, which Israel is demanding be included in any deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, returning from a meeting with Trump at the White House, on Thursday said any agreement with Iran must cover “not only the nuclear issue, but also ballistic missiles and Iran’s regional proxies.”

The premier expressed “general skepticism about the possibility of reaching any agreement with Iran,” but said Trump believes the Iranians could be forced into “a good deal.”

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US-Iran nuclear talks

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