TEHRAN (Kashmir English): Iran has officially denied any plans to meet with the United States next week, despite earlier remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that talks were in the works.
Speaking on state television on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, made it clear that there is no scheduled meeting between Iranian and American officials. He stressed that Iran is still reviewing whether diplomatic engagement with the U.S. serves the country’s national interests, especially following recent military tensions.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was assessing whether talks with the U.S. were in its interest, following five previous rounds of negotiations that were cut short by Israel and the U.S. attacking Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
The U.S. and Israel said the strikes were meant to curb Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear programme is solely geared toward civilian use.
Araqchi said the damages to nuclear sites “were not little” and that relevant authorities were figuring out the new realities of their nuclear programme, which he said would inform Tehran’s future diplomatic stance.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would likely seek a commitment from Tehran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week and credited US strikes with bringing a swift end to the war between Israel and Tehran.
“It was very severe. It was obliteration,” he said, talking about the US strikes on the nuclear sites, shrugging off an initial assessment by the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency that Tehran’s path to building a nuclear weapon may have been set back only by months.
Iran’s leadership has also expressed concerns over the role of international inspectors. Parliament is reviewing laws that may limit cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a move that reflects growing frustration over external interference.
