TEHRAN: Foreign Minister of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi has ruled out diplomatic talks as long as the Israeli aggression against Iran continues, holding the United States complicit in it.
Speaking to Iranian media ahead of his visit to Geneva, Araghchi said Tehran has explicitly stated that as long as the aggression does not stop, the talk of dialogue is meaningless.
The Iranian Foreign Minister will meet with his French, German, British, and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.
Araghchi added 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 the attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.
The top Iranian diplomat stated that Tehran views Washington as complicit in the Israeli aggression against Iran, citing recent remarks by US President Donald Trump expressing support for Israel and issuing threats against senior 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 programme, 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 centres of Israel 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.
Earlier, in a post on X, Araghchi strongly condemned the Israeli attack 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.
