Top Iranian Diplomat Rejects Direct Negotiations With U.S.

AFP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Following U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration that he would prefer to talk directly with the Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed direct negotiations with the U.S. as "meaningless" on Sunday, 6 April 2025.

Last month, U.S. President Trump called upon Tehran to negotiate with Washington over its nuclear programme, but he also threatened to bomb Iran if diplomacy failed.

The U.S. president stated last Thursday, 3 April 2025, that he would prefer to have "direct talks" with Iran.

"I think it goes faster and you understand the other side a lot better than if you go through intermediaries," he argued.

However, Araghchi said on Sunday: "direct negotiations would be meaningless with a party that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter and that expresses contradictory positions from its various officials".

"We remain committed to diplomacy and are ready to try the path of indirect negotiations," he added, according to a foreign ministry statement.

"Iran keeps itself prepared for all possible or probable events, and just as it is serious in diplomacy and negotiations, it will also be decisive and serious in defending its national interests and sovereignty," Araghchi said.

On Saturday, 5 April 2025, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the U.S. "on equal footing," questioning Washington's sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying "if you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?"

Western countries, led by the U.S., have for decades accused Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Iran rejects the allegation and maintains that its nuclear activities exist solely for civilian purposes.

On Saturday Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told the official IRNA news agency that the country was "ready" for war, but will not initiate it 

In 2015, Iran reached a landmark deal with the permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely the United States, France, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, to regulate its nuclear activities.

The 2015 agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon.

In 2018, during President Trump's first term in office, the United States withdrew from the agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Iran, prompting Iran to start began rolling back on its commitments under the agreement and accelerated its nuclear programme a year later.

On Monday, 6 April 2025, Ali Larijani, a close adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that while Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons, it would "have no choice but to do so" in the event of an attack against it.



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