Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reaffirmed Tehran’s position on future negotiations with the US, saying his country is open to diplomacy but that the US needs to rebuild trust since it backed Israel’s attacks on Iran during previous talks.
Writing in the Financial Times, Aragchi touted the progress made in his engagement with the Trump administration in contrast to the previous US administration.
“In only five meetings over nine weeks, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and I achieved more than I did in four years of nuclear negotiations with the failed Biden administration. We were on the cusp of a historic breakthrough,” the Iranian diplomat wrote.
Araghchi said there were “several ideas for a win-win solution” put forward by the US, Iran, and mediator Oman, on the issue of the future of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and relief from US sanctions. “Things were looking up, with a flurry of messages exchanged. But only 48 hours before a pivotal sixth meeting, Israel launched an unprovoked assault on my country,” he wrote.
Witkoff said on Monday that he expected negotiations with Iran to resume within a week, but Araghchi signaled Tehran still hasn’t agreed. “Although Iran has in recent days received messages indicating that the US may be ready to return to negotiations, how can we trust further engagement?” Araghchi said.
“Iran signed a comprehensive nuclear deal with six countries in 2015, including the US, which Washington unilaterally abrogated three years later. And after agreeing to new negotiations in good faith, we have seen our good will reciprocated with an attack by two nuclear-armed militaries,” he added.
Iranian media also reported on Tuesday that Iran was “studying” the US proposal for a resumption of negotiations. Araghchi said that the talks must be built on “mutual respect” and cannot be conducted under the “shadow of war.” President Trump has said he will bomb Iran again if it restarts its nuclear enrichment program.
Araghchi concluded with a call for President Trump to pursue the interests of the US over Israel’s. “Trump’s promise of ‘America First’ is, in practice, being twisted into ‘Israel First,'” he said. “The choice is America’s. Will the US finally choose diplomacy? Or will it remain ensnared in someone else’s war?”
