Written by Samia Nakhoul and Lila De Kretzer

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Iran sent a conciliatory message to Western leaders in Davos on Wednesday, as a senior official denied it wanted nuclear weapons and offered talks on opportunities days after arch-rival Donald Trump returned to the White House.

However, Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif’s comments coincided with a warning from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran is “pressing on the gas pedal” on enriching uranium to near weapons-grade grade.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, called for diplomacy between Iran and Trump, who in his first term withdrew the United States from the nuclear agreement that imposed strict restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities.

In response to a question about how important the dialogue between Tehran and Trump is at the present time, Grossi answered in Davos: “It is absolutely indispensable.”

“Without their dialogue, there will be no progress,” he said during a media panel discussion.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Iran should take the first step towards improving relations with Middle Eastern countries and the United States by making clear that it does not aim to develop nuclear weapons.

Zarif’s statements seem aimed at allaying those fears, amid fears that the Middle East is heading toward more war with the return of the American president, who considered Tehran, during his first administration, the biggest villain in foreign policy.

“Go ahead”

Zarif rejected the idea that Tehran was seeking to possess nuclear weapons and indicated his support for the idea of ​​holding talks to improve relations between Iran and its critics in the West.

“There is always hope that people will choose rationality. I hope that Trump 2 this time will be more serious, more focused and realistic,” Zarif told a panel, adding that the Islamic Republic does not pose a security threat to Iran. the world.

“Now, for us, is the time to move forward. We have been looking at our surroundings as a threat, because of our history. Now… no one believes that Iran is an easy place to carry out their whims. So, we can move forward on the basis of opportunities, not on the basis of threats.” “So let’s talk about it.”

Iranian, Arab and Western officials told Reuters late last year that Iran’s main concern was the possibility of Trump pressuring Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites and reimpose a “maximum pressure policy” through more sanctions on its oil.

Trump announced in a campaign speech in October that he did not want to go to war with Iran, but said that Israel should “strike the Iranian nuclear program first and worry about the rest later,” in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel on October 1. .

In 2018, then US President Trump reneged on the nuclear agreement that Tehran concluded with world powers in 2015 and reimposed harsh US sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” policy on Iran.

Enrichment

In response, Tehran violated the agreement in several ways, including accelerating uranium enrichment.

Grossi said last month that Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it would “significantly” accelerate uranium enrichment to 60% purity, roughly 90% weapons-grade purity.

Western powers described this step as a dangerous escalation, and said that there was no civilian justification for enrichment to this level, and that no other country had done so without producing nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is completely peaceful and that it has the right to enrich uranium to any level it wants.

He added, “Previously, it was (producing) more or less than seven kilograms (of enriched uranium up to 60%) per month, but now it is more than 30 or more. So I think this is a clear indication of acceleration. They are putting pressure on the world.” “Gas pedal,” Grossi said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting on Wednesday.

According to International Atomic Energy Agency standards, about 42 kilograms of uranium enriched to this level is sufficient in principle, if enriched to a greater degree, to make one nuclear bomb. Grossi said that Iran currently possesses about 200 kilograms of uranium enriched to a rate of up to 60 percent.

Although it will take some time to install and operate the additional centrifuges – uranium enrichment machines -, Grossi said, acceleration is starting to happen, adding: “We will start to see steady increases from now.”

Grossi also raised the possibility of reaching a new nuclear agreement.

“One can infer from the first statements by President Trump and some others in the new administration that there is a willingness, so to speak, to have a conversation and perhaps move to some form of agreement,” he said.