Iran worries U.S. will use nuclear talks as pretext for new attacks: Senior official

Iran is willing to return to the negotiating table with the U.S., "the sooner the better," but must be convinced the talks aren't cover for further military action, Tehran's nuclear negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi said on Wednesday.The big picture: U.S. officials were discussing the dates for future talks with Tehran last month while simultaneously coordinating war plans with Israel, Gharibabadi said. While Tehran knows it needs to negotiate with the U.S. to get sanctions lifted and avoid new ones, he said bluntly that "we don't trust the U.S."Driving the news: Iran and the "E3" — France, Germany and the U.K. — will hold talks in Istanbul on Friday on the issue of "snapback" sanctions. The European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal could impose those harsh sanctions for Iranian non-compliance, though Tehran denies that such a move would be legitimate.Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator, said Friday's talks were "important" but not "decisive," because even if an agreement is not reached "we still have time."Between the lines: The U.S. and the E3 jointly settled on the end of August as a deadline to impose the harsh snapback sanctions if no U.S.-Iran deal is reached by then. But Gharibabadi suggested that was a soft deadline, noting that the E3 had also called Iran's foreign minister to express their desire to come to an arrangement. The power to impose snapback sanctions expires in October, but the Europeans are expected to raise the possibility of extending that deadline.In return, they want Iran to take steps toward resuming the work of UN inspectors in its nuclear facilities and possibly move its 60% highly enriched uranium to another country. Gharibabadi said it was "premature" to discuss an extension. What he's saying: Speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday, Gharibabadi said it was now incumbent on Iran to negotiate over snapback with the Europeans and over the broader nuclear issue with the U.S.But he made clear just how difficult that would be. The last time around, he argued, the U.S. repeatedly changed its positions in talks — making it difficult to make progress — and then turned around and bombed Iran.Gharibabadi said a military operation may always have been the true U.S. intention — something U.S. officials deny — and that could be the case once again.Concerns about future attacks are one reason Iran want assurances on the Trump administration's seriousness before returning to the table, he said.State of play: Gharibabadi said Iran had invited a technical team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Tehran in the next few weeks, but not to visit the country's nuclear sites.Iran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA due to the Israeli and U.S. attacks. Gharibabadi criticized IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi for declining to condemn those attacks, suggesting he had political motives. But he said Iran was willing to discuss "a new modality" for cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, including access to the nuclear sites that were not attacked and also those that were.The IAEA has not yet requested access to the three bombed nuclear facilities, Gharibabadi said, noting that it would be very dangerous for inspectors to enter them.The intrigue: When reporters repeatedly asked about the status of Iran's nuclear facilities and material after the strikes, Gharibabadi joked that rather than asking him they should trust President Trump's insistence that they were "totally destroyed."What to watch: The U.S. has continually proposed a resumption of talks since the war, and there have been several discussions in Tehran about the terms on which to resume them, Gharibabadi said.He insisted that any talks would be "indirect," conducted through mediators, despite the U.S. desire for "direct" talks. Asked why, he said "we don't trust the U.S." and don't think the process has reached a stage where direct talks are appropriate.Gharibabadi didn't lay out a timetable for the resumption of talks with the U.S., but suggested Friday's talks in Istanbul would be a factor.As for those talks, Gharibabadi said it was important that the Europeans not coordinate their positions with Washington ahead of time, because in that case there is no point negotiating with them.

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