Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran did not plan to negotiate with the United States and intended to keep fighting, after the White House said talks were ongoing.
“At present, our policy is the continuation of resistance”, Araghchi said on state TV, adding: “We do not intend to negotiate — so far, no negotiations have taken place, and I believe our position is completely principled.”
“Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat,” he said.
On Wednesday, the White House threatened to “unleash hell” on Iran if it did not negotiate a peace deal with the US.
“Talks continue. They are productive,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Pakistani officials said earlier that Islamabad had conveyed to Tehran an American 15-point plan to stop the fighting that began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran and has since engulfed the region.
Leavitt said there were “elements of truth” to reports of the 15-point proposal.
Speaking of the apparent plan, Araghchi said: “These were presented in the form of various ideas, all of which have been conveyed to the senior officials of the country, and if it is necessary for a position to be taken, it will certainly be decided.”
Araghchi said that messages were “being exchanged through friendly countries or through certain different individuals” but insisted that “this is neither called dialogue nor negotiation”.
The foreign minister also said that while Iran might be able to secure security guarantees ratified by the UN Security Council, Tehran had created its own guarantees in the way it fought the war.
“In this war, we showed the world that no one can provoke the Islamic Republic, and in fact we created a security shield for ourselves so that the whole world understood that provoking the Islamic Republic and playing with our interests carries heavy consequences.”
AFP
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