By Janet Ekstract, ISTANBUL – An Iranian minister told the BBC that Iran is ready to mull over a compromise to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S. if America discussed lifting sanctions. But U.S. officials have reiterated that Iran is preventing progress in the negotiating process and that the U.S. is willing to sit down with Iranian officials. As former U.N. ambassador and former national security advisor under U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term -John Bolton explained in a recent interview on NewsNation, that Iran has never kept its commitments for 25 years, adding that he was shocked that any negotiations would take place with Iranian officials. Meanwhile, speaking during a visit to Hungary on February 16, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that reaching a deal with Iran will be “very hard to do,” but that the effort should be made. As Rubio said: “I think that there’s an opportunity here to diplomatically reach an agreement that addresses the things we’re concerned about. We’ll be very open and welcoming to that. But I don’t want to overstate it either.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC that the ball is “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal,” adding “If they are sincere, I’m sure we will be on the road to an agreement.” Bolton told NewsNation last week, that Iran can’t be trusted and NewsNation news anchor Elizabeth Vargas questioned Iran’s sincerity in any deal due to new satellite imagery showing Iran has already repaired and is rebuilding areas of its damaged nuclear sites hit on June 22, 2025 by the U.S. She added that the satellite images show evidence that points to a continued enrichment of uranium. Meanwhile, Turkiye has played a diplomatic role in offering to broker negotiations and has offered to keep the enriched uranium with a pledge not to return it to Iran. Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with strikes if they don’t make a deal as the U.S. continues to increase its military presence in the region. Trump also told reporters that regime change in Iran would be best and Iranians have been holding nationwide anti-government protests since the end of December with human rights groups reporting that upwards of 7,000 Iranians were killed already. That’s despite Iranian officials giving their word to Trump that they would not execute anymore Iranian citizens which reinforces Bolton’s point that Iran simply can’t be trusted.
Indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. were held in the Gulf state of Oman several weeks ago with Takht-Ravanchi confirming that a second round of talks is set to take place in Geneva on February 17. He added the talks had been “more or less in a positive direction but it is too early to judge,” with Trump also acknowledged they were positive. Takht-Ravanchi highlighted Iran’s offer to dilute its 60%-enriched uranium as proof of its ability to compromise but Bolton told NewsNation’s Vargas that there’s clear proof that Iran is rebuilding its terrorist network and has already stated it draws a red line when it comes to being told to defund terrorist groups across the Middle East. Takht-Ravanchi also told BBC: “We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program if they are ready to talk about sanctions, ” As Rubio told reporters: “The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and is willing to talk with anyone but it’s going to be hard. We’re dealing with radical Shia clerics who are making theological decisions, not geopolitical ones.”
