Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Thursday that the US is responsible for ensuring Israeli compliance with the emerging agreement, describing the US and Israel as a single entity from Tehran's perspective. He confirmed that the upcoming 60-day period will focus solely on sanctions relief and nuclear issues, and that the planned Friday talks in Switzerland may not be final — with the possibility that both countries' presidents could sign the memorandum of understanding themselves.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has now formally confirmed that the 60-day period between the signing of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MoU) and the start of nuclear talks will be devoted exclusively to sanctions relief and nuclear issues, not broader regional concerns. In remarks reported Thursday morning by the source 301, Baghaei also raised the possibility that the planned US-Iran talks in Switzerland this Friday may not be the final round, suggesting that the presidents of both countries could eventually sign the MoU themselves. This latest statement sharpens Tehran's timeline: the nuclear track is to be walled off from the issues—such as Israeli operations in Lebanon and Iran's missile program—that Baghaei had earlier declared non-negotiable.
Thursday's confirmation follows a series of Iranian hardening steps. At 07:15 Jerusalem, Baghaei warned that Israel must fully withdraw from Lebanon or the MoU would be canceled—a threat based on a single Iranian source and framed as linking the deal's survival to Israeli compliance. Within hours, Baghaei expanded the demands to eight points, ruling out any missile negotiations and announcing immediate oil sanctions relief, while holding the US responsible for Israeli compliance. Now, at roughly 10:00 Jerusalem, the same spokesman has provided the clearest timeline yet for the nuclear track, narrowing the 60-day window to sanctions and nuclear matters alone, while leaving the Friday talks in Switzerland potentially open-ended.
The broader pattern was already foregrounded by The Zioneer: earlier versions of the Iranian position—tracked over the preceding week by the desk—showed a consistent effort to separate the nuclear file from regional demands while maintaining a hardline posture on both. The Zioneer reported on June 15 that Baghaie had said the nuclear issue was not included in the MoU and would be discussed within 60 days of signing. By June 16, Israeli intelligence assessed that Iran would use that window to stall, preserving its nuclear infrastructure rather than seeking a breakthrough.
What remains unverified is whether the Swiss talks are indeed the final round or a preliminary session. Baghaei's remarks leave both possibilities open, and neither Washington nor Tehran has confirmed the scope of any agreement. Whether the two presidents—rather than negotiators—will ultimately sign the MoU remains an open question, along with the core ambiguity of whether the deal's survival truly hinges on Israeli actions in Lebanon, as Tehran insists.
4 developments
- DevelopingIran: US must enforce Israeli compliance with agreement; 60-day nuclear talks set
- StrongIran's Araghchi tells Turkey, Iraq, Egypt: US responsible for enforcing deal, Israel must halt Lebanon strikes
- StrongIran details 60-day nuclear talks timeline, sanctions relief clauses in Islamabad MoU
- DevelopingUS pushes to normalize emerging Iran deal; Israeli conditions spelled out
Source and signal
- Internal intake