Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tuesday that no talks are currently underway with the US, as the chances of a deal between the two sides still appear unlikely.
In comments to Al Mayadeen, Rezaei said the US must meet Iran’s seven conditions to open the Strait of Hormuz. He left open the possibility of Tehran receiving a response from Washington on those conditions, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio doubled down on his rejection of the Iranian demands.
“Iran would very much like to reach an agreement. The problem is that the conditions they continue to put forward are absurd,” Rubio told reporters.
In a September interview with Al Jazeera, Rezaei outlined six conditions for ending the war with the US:
- An end to the war on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon
- The release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets
- An end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports
- An end to US interference in Iran’s internal affairs
- An end to US cooperation with “opponents of Iran’s revolution”
- An end to US attacks on Iranian territory
Notably, Rezaei did not mention war reparations in that interview, despite previous Iranian demands for compensation for US and Israeli attacks. But Rubio said Iran was now demanding reparations and rejected the possibility of the US paying them, and Iran’s PressTV also reported that reparations were one of the seven conditions. Iran is also asking for US sanctions relief so it can sell oil.
Also on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected media reports about a potential meeting between Rezaei and US Vice President JD Vance. “These speculations and media reports are entirely baseless, and there are no plans to hold such a meeting,” he said.
A day earlier, Rezaei said that the US was “manufacturing fake news” about talks and called on the US to “surrender” to Iran’s conditions. Around the same time, President Trump put out a post on Truth Social saying there was “momentum” toward ending the war, comments he made after meeting with Qatar’s prime minister.
