Key points
- Iran had been negotiating with US before Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities
- Washington later joined the strikes
- Araghchi and Witkoff met five times without concluding a deal
ISLAMABAD: Iran said Monday it had “no specific date” for a meeting with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear programme, following a war with Israel that had derailed negotiations.
“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei of plans for a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to AFP.
Iran had been negotiating with the United States before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month, which Washington later joined.
Araghchi and Witkoff met five times, starting in April, without concluding a deal, before Israel launched surprise strikes on June 13, starting a 12-day war.
“Good faith”
“We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran”, said Baqaei.
The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.
Extent of damage unknown
The extent of the damage from the strikes remains unknown.
With its own strikes, numbering in the hundreds, Israel killed nuclear scientists and top-ranking military officers as well as hitting military, nuclear and other sites.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel, while it attacked a US base in Qatar in retaliation for Washington’s strikes.
Israel and Western nations accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.
Baqaei warns European signatories
According to IRNA news agency, Esmaeil Baqaei has warned the European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal against using the so-called snapback mechanism that would re-impose UN sanctions on Iran if activated.
Addressing a weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, Baqaei described the European threat as “a political act and in opposition to the Islamic Republic, which will naturally be met with a proportionate and appropriate response.”
