Iran's Foreign Minister has denied that his country is set to resume nuclear talks with the US, following the end of the 12-day war with Israel.
Talks were under way when Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, derailing the process aimed at achieving a new deal to limit Tehran's nuclear programme. US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the two foes on Tuesday, and the next day said Washington would pick up talks with Tehran “next week”.
But Abbas Araghchi labelled that as “speculation” and shut down the prospect of Iran returning to the table, at least for now. “No agreement has been made to restart negotiations, and there has not even been talk of negotiations. There is no point in negotiating now,” the top diplomat said.
“We have an experience where America betrayed us in the middle of negotiations,” he said of the US involvement in Israel's war in Iran. A sixth round of nuclear talks had been scheduled to take place in Oman, but were cancelled when the war started two days before.
Mr Araghchi stated that “diplomacy still exists” and that messages continued to be exchanged between both sides, but said Iran was still weighing whether it should return to the table. He highlighted the role of the Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi, the mediator of the five rounds of talks, saying he had done his best to “actively mediate between the two sides”.
The Iranian Foreign Minister said the nuclear issue had become more difficult to negotiate because of the war. “The situation has completely changed and it is not possible to reach an agreement as easily as in the past.”
Iran retaliated to Sunday's US strikes on three nuclear sites by launching an attack on Washington's largest airbase in the region, Al Udeid in Qatar. Qatari forces intercepted the majority of the missiles and there was no damage to the base. Doha condemned the Iranian attack on its territory.
“Iran's recent attack on US military bases in the region was merely a response to the US threat and not against neighbouring Arab countries,” Mr Araghchi said. “After the attack, countries like Qatar were upset, which is natural, but we emphasised that this reaction was directed at America.”
Qatar revealed it helped broker the ceasefire announced by Mr Trump.
He called on Israel to respect the truce and said “third parties” had been instructed to pass on the message that “Iran is not Lebanon” and Tehran would not tolerate a resumption in hostilities. “I clearly said tell them that Iran is not Lebanon and if they violate the ceasefire, we will respond.”
Israel has continued its bombardment of Lebanon despite a fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah in November. It has also violated previous truce agreements in the Gaza Strip by resuming attacks.
Hostilities were close to breaking out again just hours after Mr Trump announced the ceasefire, when Israel accused Iran of firing missiles into its airspace. Tehran was quick to issue a denial but Israel still launched a limited strike on Tehran. Mr Trump then issued several strong-worded statements calling on both sides − particularly Israel − to show restraint.
Damage to nuclear sites
As the truce holds and fighting has come to an end, questions have emerged on the state of Iran's nuclear programme in the aftermath of US strikes and the war with Israel.
Mr Trump and his administration are furious after a preliminary assessment leaked to the press suggested the attacks may not have fully destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites had been “a resounding success”, angrily pushing back against the “fake news” media for questioning how effective the attacks were.
Mr Araghchi said “the damage has not been small and is being assessed”, a stark difference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who said Mr Trump had “exaggerated” the outcome of the strikes which had “done nothing significant” to Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
“The damages, in general, are assessed as high and serious,” Mr Araghchi said, adding that Iran was not planning on allowing back inspectors, rejecting the UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi's request to travel to Tehran. “We currently do not have a building to receive Grossi,” he said.
The war has further strained Iran's relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency which it blamed for fuelling unease about its nuclear activities.
Iran's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to suspend co-operation with the nuclear watchdog. The decision was approved on Thursday by the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists that vets legislation. Mr Araghchi said the decision was legally binding.
The IAEA said it had not yet received word from Iran regarding the suspension of co-operation.
