Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that negotiations with the United States are meaningless, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Speaking during a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Tehran, Pezeshkian said there was no point in negotiating with Washington, accusing the United States of imposing sanctions and pressure and issuing threats on a daily basis. He also said Washington has a history of “breaking its commitments.”
Pezeshkian said this was the core problem between Iran and the United States, arguing that Washington resorts to war after sitting at the negotiating table. He claimed that the United States had attacked Iran three times following talks, which he said demonstrated that Washington was not seeking dialogue but rather aimed at “bringing down Iran.”
He said Iran had demonstrated the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities and had been subjected to the highest levels of monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Despite this, he said, the United States continued to exert pressure on Iran based on “groundless allegations.”
Pezeshkian also criticized the IAEA, saying that whenever inspectors visited Iran, the locations of nuclear facilities and the identities of scientists were identified, followed by attacks on those facilities and the assassination of scientists.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had conveyed its position through intermediaries regarding Washington’s response to its proposal. He said the U.S. proposal was similar to previous offers and focused on the nuclear issue, while Tehran wanted the Strait of Hormuz to be the main focus.
Baghaei added that the return of IAEA inspectors had not been discussed and that several additional points still needed to be communicated to the U.S. side.
Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz would not be reopened until Iran’s seven conditions outlined in the interim agreement reached with the United States in June were fulfilled. His comments came days after Tehran received Washington’s response to its diplomatic proposal.
“The Americans, who say different things in the media, have recently presented proposals through a mediator. But they must understand that the period of stalling and imposing unilateral demands is over,” Ghalibaf said, according to Noor News.
“Iran’s position is completely clear and firm. The Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened until our seven conditions, based on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, are fulfilled,” he added.
