Iran

Iran's foreign minister said Saturday in an interview that an opportunity exists for nuclear negotiations with the West, but that it is "limited."

Abbas Araghchi's comments come after the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, visited the Islamic Republic for talks with high-ranking officials.

"There is still an opportunity for diplomacy, although this opportunity is not much, it is a limited opportunity," Araghchi said of Iran's nuclear program in the interview with state television.

The visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general is seen as one of the last chances for diplomacy before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.

During his first term between 2017 and 2021, Trump imposed a policy known as "maximum pressure" against Iran.

This included Washington tearing up a deal on Iran's nuclear program that had been reached under his predecessor, Barack Obama in 2015.

Trump reintroduced heavy sanctions, which the current U.S. administration of Joe Biden has maintained.

The 2015 deal provided for an easing of international sanctions, in exchange for guarantees that Iran does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons — a charge Tehran has constantly denied it is pursuing.

"Our nuclear path in the next year will be a sensitive and complicated one, but we are prepared for any scenario and conditions," Araghchi said Saturday.

He said Iran will be ready for both "confrontation" and "cooperation," whichever path the other side decides to follow.

During his visit the IAEA chief held talks with Araghchi as well as with President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami.

Grossi also toured the key uranium enrichment plants of Natanz and Fordo in central Iran.

His visit comes ahead of a meeting of the IAEA's board of governors later this month at which Britain, France and Germany could propose a new resolution critical of Iran.

In his interview Saturday, Araghchi warned against such a measure.

"If a resolution is passed against us, it will face reciprocal actions by Iran. We will take new measures in our nuclear program that they will certainly not like."

Expectations have run high that Trump will take a harder line with Tehran when he takes office in January.

However, The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump's tech billionaire ally Elon Musk had met the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. in a bid to defuse tensions.

Araghchi in his interview Saturday denied that such a meeting had taken place.

"There has been no meeting between the representative of Iran and Elon Musk," he said.

"Now is not the time for such meetings. It is not wise, and there is not a will for it."

Iranian media were divided Saturday over a reported meeting between Tehran's ambassador to the United Nations and tech billionaire Elon Musk — unconfirmed by Iranian authorities — with some describing it as "positive" while others called it "treason.”

The New York Times reported Friday that Musk, who is a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, met earlier this week with Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani.

The Times cited anonymous Iranian sources describing the encounter as "positive," although neither the Trump transition team nor Iran's U.N. mission immediately confirmed the meeting.

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Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Saturday "categorically" denied the Times report on the Musk meeting, state media reported.

In an interview with state news agency IRNA, spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was reported as "categorically denying such a meeting" and expressing "surprise at the coverage of the American media in this regard."

However, Iranian media outlets, particularly those aligned with the reformist party that supports President Masoud Pezeshkian, largely described the meeting in positive terms.

The Ham Mihan reformist daily noted that "the strategy of the Iranian diplomatic team is on target and has elicited a reciprocal and positive response from the American side."

Sazandegi, another reformist outlet, interpreted the meeting as an indication of Iran engaging in "secret diplomacy" with the United States.

While it portrayed the meeting as a "positive" development, it nevertheless stressed that it should not be exaggerated.

Musk has been tapped as the co-chair of Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency.

The Shargh newspaper from the same political camp suggested that the encounter reflects "the result of Donald Trump's active diplomacy."

In contrast, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily criticized the reported meeting as "naivety or treason" against Iran, slamming Trump for exiting the Iran nuclear deal.

The paper said Trump "must pay damages to Iran for violating the nuclear agreement," which was signed in 2015 between Iran and Western powers.

The deal gave Iran relief from economic sanctions in exchange for controls on its nuclear program, which Iran has consistently maintained is for peaceful purposes.

The conservative Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper stated that the interaction "can be viewed as the beginning of a new path in Iran's foreign policy," although it did not name Musk, instead describing him as Trump's representative.

In the weeks leading up to Trump's reelection, Iranian officials signaled a willingness to resolve issues with the West.

Iran and the United States cut diplomatic ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Since then, both countries have communicated through the Swiss embassy in Tehran and the Sultanate of Oman.