ISTANBUL: Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday (March 25) insisted that no negotiations are underway between Tehran and Washington to end the war, contradicting White House claims that talks are “ongoing” and “productive,” Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported, citing state media.
“There are no ongoing talks with the US,” Abbas Araghchi said, according to state-run Press TV.
“The US is sending messages through different mediators. The exchange of messages via mediators does not mean negotiations,” he added.
“The fact that they are talking about negotiation now is exactly an admission of defeat,” Araghchi said. “Didn’t they previously demand unconditional surrender? So why are they now mobilising their top officials to negotiate?”
Araghchi also claimed there is “evidence” that several countries in the region have provided services and support to the United States, saying this is “not just our claim, but something they themselves acknowledge,” though he did not elaborate.
He said regional states “did not take Iran’s warnings seriously” and have now found themselves in an “abnormal situation,” urging them to “distance themselves from the United States and its aggression against Iran.”
He added that these countries “did not even condemn the attacks,” saying that the minimum expected response was at least a verbal condemnation.
The US and Israel have been carrying out airstrikes on Iran since Feb 28, killing more than 1,340 people so far, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, causing casualties and damage to infrastructure and disrupting global markets and aviation. – Bernama
