UNITED NATIONS — Iran and the United States reaffirmed their commitments to diplomacy at a contentious meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, but the gap between the Trump administration and the Islamic Republic on a nuclear deal remains wide and deep.<\/p>\n
The sixth round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran had been scheduled for soon after Israel\u2019s 12-day war with Iran<\/a> in June, during which the U.S. joined Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear sites. The talks were canceled, and in September Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States.<\/p>\n But Iran\u2019s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the Security Council that \u201cIran remains fully committed to principled diplomacy and genuine negotiations.\u201d And said it’s now up to France, Britain and the U.S. \u201cto reverse course and take concrete, credible steps to restore trust and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Iran remains committed to the core principles of the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, in which Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled the U.S. out of the agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany. <\/p>\n In a rare public exchange between diplomats from the two countries, U.S. Mission counselor Morgan Ortagus, a Trump ally and former State Department spokesperson, said, \u201cThe United States remains available for formal talks with Iran but only if Tehran is prepared for direct and meaningful dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n Ortagus said Trump extended \u201cthe hand of diplomacy\u201d to Iran during both of his administrations.<\/p>\n \u201cBut instead of taking that hand of diplomacy, you continue to put your hand in the fire,\u201d she said, looking directly at Iravani. \u201cStep away from the fire, sir, and take President Trump\u2019s hand of diplomacy. It\u2019s extended to you.\u201d<\/p>\n She stressed, however, that the Trump administration has been clear that there can be no enrichment of nuclear material inside Iran, a major point of contention. <\/p>\n Irvani said the U.S. insistence on zero enrichment was contrary to Iran’s rights under the 2015 deal and showed the U.S. was not pursuing fair negotiations. He said if France and Britain continued to side with the U.S., \u201cdiplomacy will be effectively destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIran will not bow down to any pressure and intimidation,\u201d Irvani said. <\/p>\n In September, the agreement’s three Western members \u2014 Britain, France and Germany \u2014 triggered a \u201csnapback\u201d mechanism to reinstate the sanctions<\/a> that had been lifted, citing Iran\u2019s failure to comply with the deal\u2019s conditions.<\/p>\n