Iran Says Ready For New Nuclear Deal, Asks If United States Is

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi insisted Wednesday that his country is serious about reviving a deal meant to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear bomb but questioned whether Tehran could trust America’s commitment to any eventual accord.

The U.S. had already “trampled” on a previous deal, President  Raisi told the U.N. General Assembly, referring to America’s decision to pull out of the accord in 2018.

Ever since Iran’s 1979 revolution that overthrew its Western-backed shah, Tehran has been at odds with the United States and has sought to project itself as a counterweight to American power.

Tehran’s resolve to resist U.S. pressure has seen it build close ties with countries like Russia, develop a domestic ballistic missile program and attempt to export its narrow revolutionary ideals to countries across the Mideast through Shiite militias and proxies.

Its nuclear program, which Iran insists is for peaceful energy purposes, is seen as an extension of its defiance of an American-led world order.

After former U.S. President Donald Trump walked away from the deal brokered by the Obama administration, Tehran steadily abandoned every limitation the accord imposed on its nuclear enrichment.

But efforts to salvage the deal are now nearing a take-it-or-leave-it inflection point. European Union officials have warned the window for securing a nuclear deal is about to close.

In exchange for agreeing to the terms of the new nuclear deal, Iran would receive relief on economic sanctions and be given greater access to global financial markets and the flow of U.S. dollars.