Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected US President Donald Trump’s position that Tehran wants an agreement to end the war. He said on Sunday that Iran was not interested in talks with the United States.
“We are stable and strong enough. We are just defending our people,” Araghchi told CBS’ “Face The Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday.
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“We don’t see any reason why we should talk to the Americans because we talked to them when they decided to attack us,” Araghchi said.
“There is no good experience of talking to the Americans,” Araghchi said.
“We never asked for a ceasefire and we never asked for negotiations,” Araghchi said.
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He added that Iran is ready to negotiate with countries that want to negotiate for selected oil tankers to pass through the key export route through the Strait of Hormuz.
“I cannot mention any specific country, but we have been approached by a number of countries that want to have safe passage for their vessels,” Araghchi said.
The US and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran on February 28, two days after Washington held a third round of nuclear talks with Tehran.
Trump says Iran wants a deal
This week, US President Donald Trump said Iran wanted a deal but was not ready to make it on current terms, without giving further details.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “The Fake News Media hates reporting how well the United States military has done against Iran, which is a total loser and wants a deal – but not a deal I would accept! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
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Trump, meanwhile, told NBC News on Saturday that he was not ready to make a deal to end the war with Iran despite the country’s willingness to do so “because the terms are not good enough yet,” but declined to say what those terms would be.
“Iran wants to make a deal and I don’t want to make a deal because the conditions are not good enough yet,” Trump said, according to NBC News. He added that any conditions would have to be “very firm”.
Asked what the terms of an eventual agreement to end the war would be, the president replied: “I don’t want to tell you that.” But he agreed that it would include a commitment by Iran to completely abandon any nuclear ambitions.
On securing the Strait of Hormuz
In a nearly 30-minute phone interview with NBC News, Trump also said he was working with other countries on a plan to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid soaring global oil prices.
According to NBC News, Trump said several countries have pledged to help secure the strait, but declined to name any of them.
“Not only are they committed, but they think it’s a great idea,” he said.
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In a Truth Social post on Saturday morning, Trump wrote: “Many countries, especially those affected by Iran’s attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz, will send warships in cooperation with the United States of America to keep the Strait open and secure.
He added: “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others affected by this artificial restriction will send ships to the area.”
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He also dismissed American concerns about rising gas prices since the start of a joint US-Israeli military operation two weeks ago.
The president also questioned whether Iran’s new supreme leader “is even alive.”
