Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the Iranian regime is ready to make a deal with the United States ahead of the Trump administration’s planned negotiations this Saturday.
Writing in the Washington Post, Araghchi said the negotiations would be “indirect,” despite President Donald Trump stating that they would be “high-level” and “direct” on Monday. Iranian state-run media reported that the talks would be between Araqchi and the U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi serving as a mediator, according to Reuters.
The foreign minister wrote that the Iranian regime has been exchanging messages and letters with the Trump administration for weeks. He added that the communication represents “a genuine attempt to clarify positions and open a window toward diplomacy.”
Aragachi said he has experience with negotiating with the United States in 2021, though a deal was not possible because of a “lack of real determination by the Biden administration.”
He added that the Iranian regime is distrustful and “harbors serious doubts” about the Trump administration’s intentions, citing Trump resuming his “maximum pressure” campaign after returning to office.
Responding to Trump’s threat of taking military action if a deal cannot be made, Araghchi said that in order to move forward, there needs to be an agreement that there is no “military option” or “military solution.”
“The proud Iranian nation, whose strength my government relies on for real deterrence, will never accept coercion or imposition,” the foreign minister wrote.
Appealing to American citizens weary of foreign conflict, he adds that spending tax dollars on “escalating the U.S. military presence in our region, potentially endangering American soldiers far from home, is not conducive to a diplomatic outcome.”
“We cannot imagine President Trump wanting to become another U.S. president mired in a catastrophic war in the Middle East — a conflict that would quickly extend across the region and cost exponentially more than the trillions of taxpayer dollars that his predecessors burned in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added.
He added that while Iran prefers diplomacy, “it knows how to defend itself.”
“We seek peace, but will never accept submission,” Araghachi wrote.
Araghchi, acknowledging Trump’s opposition to Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, made the questionable claim that the Iranian regime has upheld the agreement’s condition stating that Iran shall never seek nuclear weapons.
A February report from the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent purity — close to the 90 percent level considered weapon-grade and far above the 3.67 percent limit set by the Iran deal.
The total enriched uranium stockpile now stands at approximately 8,294 kilograms, vastly exceeding the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.
Trump withdrew from the deal during his first term in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
Araghchi went on to make the case for economic cooperation, stating that the country is “open to welcoming businesses from around the world,” citing Iran signing an agreement to buy 80 planes from Boeing as part of the Iran deal.
“The truth is that we are open to welcoming businesses from around the world. It is the U.S. administrations and congressional impediments, not Iran, that have kept American enterprises away from the trillion-dollar opportunity that access to our economy represents,” Araghchi wrote. “To say that the scope for trade and investment in Iran is unparalleled is an understatement.”
Engaging in economic ventures with Iran would require the removal of American heavy sanctions on Iran which were put in place to curb the Iranian regime, which is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.
The talks come amid the United States’ ongoing strikes on the Houthis, an Iranian proxy group in Yemen that has disrupted global trade and fired ballistic missiles at Israel.
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[[{“value”:”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the Iranian regime is ready to make a deal with the United States ahead of the Trump administration’s planned negotiations this Saturday.
Writing in the Washington Post, Araghchi said the negotiations would be “indirect,” despite President Donald Trump stating that they would be “high-level” and “direct” on Monday. Iranian state-run media reported that the talks would be between Araqchi and the U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi serving as a mediator, according to Reuters.
The foreign minister wrote that the Iranian regime has been exchanging messages and letters with the Trump administration for weeks. He added that the communication represents “a genuine attempt to clarify positions and open a window toward diplomacy.”
Aragachi said he has experience with negotiating with the United States in 2021, though a deal was not possible because of a “lack of real determination by the Biden administration.”
He added that the Iranian regime is distrustful and “harbors serious doubts” about the Trump administration’s intentions, citing Trump resuming his “maximum pressure” campaign after returning to office.
Responding to Trump’s threat of taking military action if a deal cannot be made, Araghchi said that in order to move forward, there needs to be an agreement that there is no “military option” or “military solution.”
“The proud Iranian nation, whose strength my government relies on for real deterrence, will never accept coercion or imposition,” the foreign minister wrote.
Appealing to American citizens weary of foreign conflict, he adds that spending tax dollars on “escalating the U.S. military presence in our region, potentially endangering American soldiers far from home, is not conducive to a diplomatic outcome.”
“We cannot imagine President Trump wanting to become another U.S. president mired in a catastrophic war in the Middle East — a conflict that would quickly extend across the region and cost exponentially more than the trillions of taxpayer dollars that his predecessors burned in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added.
He added that while Iran prefers diplomacy, “it knows how to defend itself.”
“We seek peace, but will never accept submission,” Araghachi wrote.
Araghchi, acknowledging Trump’s opposition to Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, made the questionable claim that the Iranian regime has upheld the agreement’s condition stating that Iran shall never seek nuclear weapons.
A February report from the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent purity — close to the 90 percent level considered weapon-grade and far above the 3.67 percent limit set by the Iran deal.
The total enriched uranium stockpile now stands at approximately 8,294 kilograms, vastly exceeding the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.
Trump withdrew from the deal during his first term in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
Araghchi went on to make the case for economic cooperation, stating that the country is “open to welcoming businesses from around the world,” citing Iran signing an agreement to buy 80 planes from Boeing as part of the Iran deal.
“The truth is that we are open to welcoming businesses from around the world. It is the U.S. administrations and congressional impediments, not Iran, that have kept American enterprises away from the trillion-dollar opportunity that access to our economy represents,” Araghchi wrote. “To say that the scope for trade and investment in Iran is unparalleled is an understatement.”
Engaging in economic ventures with Iran would require the removal of American heavy sanctions on Iran which were put in place to curb the Iranian regime, which is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.
The talks come amid the United States’ ongoing strikes on the Houthis, an Iranian proxy group in Yemen that has disrupted global trade and fired ballistic missiles at Israel.
“}]]
