Iran rejects talks under US ‘maximum pressure,’ vows ‘maximum resistance’

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran will not engage in talks with the United States unless negotiations are free from pressure and threats.

Speaking in a recent interview with Iran newspaper, Araghchi said that Tehran will achieve nothing if it enters the talks under US President Donald Trump's so-called maximum pressure campaign.

The ineffectiveness of the policy of pressure must be proven to the US before the Islamic Republic can sit at the negotiating table on equal terms, he said, adding that Iran's strategy to counter the "maximum pressure" policy is "maximum resistance."

The top diplomat further expressed his satisfaction with the mediating role played by the Europeans in the last round of discussions aimed at lifting anti-Iran sanctions, saying the country will continue the talks with the Europeans in parallel with close consultations with Russia and China.

"But ultimately, the US must lift the sanctions. We will enter direct negotiations when we are on an equal footing, free from pressure and threats, and confident that the people's national interests will be secured," he emphasized.

Araghchi also said that Iran has a plan for possible nuclear negotiations while it engages in the ongoing indirect talks and cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its chief Rafael Grossi.

Last week, Trump claimed in an interview with Fox News that he had sent a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, warning Iran to open talks on a nuclear deal or be handled militarily.

Iran said for several days that it had not received such a letter.

On Wednesday, Araghchi said the letter had been delivered to him via Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates.

In the same day, Ayatollah Khamenei said Trump's proposal for negotiations is "a deception" that is only meant to create the impression that Iran refuses to negotiate.

Trump’s call for talks with Iran ‘deception’: Ayatollah Khamenei

Ayatollah Khamenei has once again rejected fresh nuclear talks with the US administration under Donald Trump.

He said Iran negotiated with the US for several years in the past but "this same person (Trump) threw off the table and tore apart the concluded, finalized, and signed negotiations.”

He was referring to Trump's decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and impose a series of illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Since 2021, the remaining parties to the deal have been conducting on-again, off-again talks on the removal of anti-Iran sanctions and issues about the country’s nuclear program.

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