Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has ruled out diplomatic negotiations as long as the wanton aggression against the Islamic Republic continues, holding the United States complicit in it.
Speaking ahead of his visit to Geneva where he is scheduled to hold talks with his European counterparts on the Israeli aggression, Araghchi said Tehran has explicitly stated that as long as the aggression does not stop, the talk of dialogue is meaningless.
He informed that some countries have reached out to Iran in recent days and urged de-escalation and return to diplomacy.
“I respond by saying that we were in the middle of diplomacy, so what are we supposed to return to? Or the attack by the Zionist regime on nuclear facilities; no one can explain why the Westerners do not allow this aggression to be condemned,” he remarked.
“They themselves cannot explain it and only evade the question, and there is an unjustifiable support (for it),” he said, referring specifically to attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.
The top Iranian diplomat said Tehran considers Washington an accomplice of the Israeli regime in its aggression against Iran, in a reference to statements made by US President Donald Trump in support of the regime and threats against top Iranian officials.
“We have nothing to talk with the United States as a partner in this crime,” he asserted.
He also ruled out any discussion regarding Iran’s ballistic missile program, stating that no rational mind can accept that Iran negotiate with anyone about its missile capabilities, which are “extraordinary and defensive” in nature.
Araghchi further said that Iran’s armed forces have only targeted military and economic centers of the Zionist regime in its retaliatory operation, True Promise III.
There are no residential areas, residential buildings or hospitals among Iran’s targets.
“I am aware of how precisely our missile attacks are designed and how much they adhere to ethical standards and international humanitarian law in warfare,” he noted.
True Promise III is a response to the Israeli aggression that led to the assassination of several top-ranking military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, including children and women.
On his meeting with counterparts from the UK, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday, the top diplomat said the discussions would be about nuclear and regional matters.
Araghchi further maintained that uranium enrichment on the Iranian soil will continue, adding that Iran “does not seek permission from anyone” to continue enrichment.
Earlier, in a post on X, Araghchi strongly condemned the Israeli aggression against a heavy water production facility in central Iran’s Arak province, which is under the comprehensive safeguards of the UN nuclear agency.
“The Arak Heavy Water Reactor—a facility under comprehensive IAEA safeguards and construction in strict accordance with the technical specifications agreed upon in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to eliminate any proliferation risk—was bombed yesterday in broad daylight by the Israeli regime,” he wrote.
He said it is “imperative” that the UN Security Council, which is meeting on Friday, upholds and implements its Resolution 487, unanimously adopted in response to the Israeli regime’s attack on Iraq’s nuclear facilities in 1981.
That resolution says any military attack on nuclear facilities constitutes an attack on the entire IAEA safeguards regime and ultimately on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Iran’s foreign minister warned that if the US Security Council fails to act today, it must explain to the international community why its legal principles are applied selectively on such a critical issue and added that in the event of the collapse of the global non-proliferation regime, the Council, alongside the Israeli regime, will bear full responsibility.
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