Iran Ties Nuclear Talks to U.S. Accountability for June Strikes

Iran said on Monday that any future negotiations over its nuclear programme must include U.S. accountability and compensation for the 22 June strikes that hit the Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz facilities. Foreign-ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei ruled out direct talks with Washington, describing the attacks as “military aggression against peaceful nuclear sites.” Tehran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after the June conflict but remains a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. An IAEA deputy director is expected in Iran within 10 days, yet parliamentary security-committee head Ebrahim Azizi said inspectors will not be granted physical access to the facilities. Separate discussions with the European ‘E3’—Germany, France and the U.K.—resumed in Istanbul last week, although Iran’s foreign-ministry officials said the time and place for the next round have not been fixed. The E3 have threatened to trigger the UN ‘snapback’ mechanism that would restore sanctions unless Tehran reins in uranium enrichment, a step Iran calls illegal and contrary to its treaty rights.