Iran’s Supreme Leader and the country’s power structure have reached a consensus to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States, viewing them as vital to the Islamic Republic’s survival, Reuters reported on Thursday citing unnamed Iranian sources.
Iran’s political establishment views negotiations with the United States as the only way to avoid further escalation and existential peril, the report said citing its sources.
Iran’s leadership has now leaned towards talks as "they’ve seen the cost of military confrontation,” the report quoted one Iranian political insider as saying.
The report comes two months after Israel launched land and air strikes targeting senior Iranian military leaders, nuclear scientists, and politicians, while damaging or destroying Iranian air defenses and nuclear facilities.
The Israeli strikes began on June 13, on the eve of the sixth round of negotiations with the United States.
On the ninth day of fighting, the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites which US President Donald Trump has consistently said "obliterated" the country's nuclear program.
Trump has warned that he would not hesitate to strike Iran again if the country resumes uranium enrichment.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio along with foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain set an informal end-August deadline for a new nuclear deal, warning that failure would prompt the E3 to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran using the so-called "snapback" mechanism.
European officials have warned Tehran that unless it fully cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the mechanism could be activated, restoring UN sanctions this fall.
In a meeting assessing the situation after the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic, Iran's former president Hassan Rouhani told advisers that easing tensions with global powers, including the US, is necessary for the country.
“If we can reduce tensions with Europe, our neighbors, the East and West, and even the United States in favor of national interests, not only is there nothing wrong with it, but it is necessary and obligatory,” Rouhani said.
Tehran moderates are increasingly openly signaling readiness for a return to nuclear talks, hinting at accepting some restrictions on its activities.
