Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi rejected the possibility of direct talks between Iran and the United States in the foreseeable future in remarks on Sunday — adding that, while Tehran is open to “indirect” dialogue, none has happened so far during the second Trump term.
The comments followed weeks of speculation after President Donald Trump revealed in March that he had sent a letter to Iran’s brutal dictator, “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggesting that the two countries should begin a conversation regarding Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, which the Iranian regime routinely denies exists.
“I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing,’” Trump told reporters at the time, emphasizing that he “would rather negotiate a deal” and that he was optimistic the two countries “can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily.”
“Something’s going to happen one way or the other,” the president advised.
Trump’s revelation of his overture to the Iranian regime followed Khamenei delivering a speech in which he proclaimed any contact with the U.S. government was “unintelligent and dishonorable” and claimed Iran would “attack their [America’s] security without hesitation” if it deemed it necessary.
Tehran indicated that it nonetheless was not against third-party mediation or other communication if necessary — a point that Araghchi repeated on Sunday, as well as other Iranian officials. But Araghchi insisted that no such talks, indirect or otherwise, had occurred.
“We have declared our stance, we advocate for diplomacy and negotiations, but indirectly. Of course, it should be admitted that no rounds of negotiations have been held so far,” Araqchi said following a meeting with members of the Iranian rubber-stamp parliament, according to the state Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Araghchi also reportedly said, in response to a question regarding the potential of a Libya-style nuclear disarmament agreement, “dream on.”
The civilian Foreign Ministry received support in its stance from the top general in Iran’s military, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri, during a separate press event on Sunday. Baqeri repeated Araghchi’s distinction between direct and indirect talks, stating that Khamenei had said, “there is no problem with indirect talks.” Baqeri suggested that he was informed of the contents of a response that Khamenei allegedly sent to Trump’s letter in March, in which Baqeri claimed that Khamenei disparaged the United States as “most unreliable and unfaithful.”
“There is no trust in you,” Baqeri paraphrased Khamenei’s reason as to why he opposed talks. The general praised the elderly tyrant’s response to Trump as “appropriate.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is not a warmonger, but it does not accept bullying and will stand against it,” Baqeri claimed, dismissing Iran’s status as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. “We seek [to promote] peace in the region … We are not pursuing nuclear weapons but rather addressing the needs of our own nation in the nuclear issue.”
PressTV, an Iranian state media outlet, confirmed in its report on Baqeri’s comments that the Iranian government had previously announced in late March that Khamenei wrote a letter to Trump delivered through the mediator country of Oman. That confirmation came from President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is subordinate to Khamenei and asserted that Tehran rejected the offer. Trump warned after Pezeshkian’s remarks that Iran would face a military attack “never seen before” if it continued to violate international law and sponsor terrorism.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” Trump warned.
Senior Iranian officials had repeatedly stated they were not interested in any direct diplomacy even before Trump revealed that he had sent a letter to Khamenei personally. In February, Khamenei adviser Mohammad-Javad Larijani stated that any attempt to negotiate with America would erode Iran’s sovereignty, comparing its situation to that of Ukraine, which relies heavily on American military support.
“The statements saying that we will certainly have a war if we do not negotiate with the U.S. are groundless,” he claimed. “We must understand that the U.S. administration will not lift the sanctions through negotiations but instead will make demands going against our sovereignty and freedom, which we will have to accept in exchange for lifting the restrictions. This is exactly what it is doing with Ukraine now.”
Trump has paired his offer of direct talks with aggressive action to curb Iran’s foreign terrorism financing. Iran is the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism, responsible for pouring tens of billions into jihadist terrorist organizations including but not limited to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Yemeni Houthi movement. Last week, the Department of the Treasury moved to implement measures preventing Iran from circumventing sanctions and accessing the global financial system, including sanctions on individuals around the world found to have aided Iran with accessing banned drone components.
“Our objective is to thwart Iran’s ability to lead and sponsor terrorism, deny Iran’s attempts to grow its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs, and punish Iran for its heinous human rights abuses,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained on Wednesday. “We are also focused on a range of illicit finance challenges beyond Iran, including narcotics trafficking.”
