Iran has 'no trust' in the US, will negotiate only if it is serious, Araghchi says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today (15 May) said his country does not trust the United States and that this was the "main obstacle" to any negotiated effort to end the West Asia war. He said everything needed to be defined very clearly before any deal could be concluded.

"We have no trust in the Americans. This is a fact, and this is the main obstacle in the way of any diplomatic effort. I think all of you know that we have every reason not to trust the Americans, while they have no reason not to trust us," he said at a press conference in New Delhi.

Araghchi, who was in Delhi to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting, said, "Now, after 40 days of war, when the US became hopeless of achieving any goal in its aggression against Iran, it offered negotiations. We are interested in negotiations, but only if the other side is serious and committed to real negotiations."

He said Iran "has been a victim of an act of aggression, an unprovoked attack by the United States and the Israeli regime, which happened right in the middle of negotiations we were having with the Americans."

"It was actually the second time that we had started negotiations with the United States, and right in the middle of them, in the midst of diplomacy, they decided to attack us. That was very unfortunate," the Iranian foreign minister said.

Araghchi said, "The most important issue right now is the question of trust. We cannot trust the Americans at all. Everything should be defined very clearly before we can conclude a deal."

He said the current negotiations were suffering from a lack of trust and from "contradictory messages" received from the Americans. "Every day is different from the previous one. A tweet today is different from yesterday's tweet. Sometimes, in a single day, we receive two different messages. And this adds to the question of mistrust."

Araghchi said Iran "resisted a very brutal war against its people. They could not achieve any of their goals. It is obvious that whatever they were unable to achieve militarily, they cannot achieve at the negotiating table either."

He, however, said mediation by Pakistan has not yet failed. "But it is facing a very difficult course, mostly because of the Americans' behaviour and the mistrust that exists between us."

"We appreciate any country that has the ability to help, particularly China. China has been helpful in the past in the resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. We have very good relations with China. We are strategic partners, and we know that the Chinese have good intentions," Araghchi said.

"So, anything they (China) can do to help diplomacy would be welcomed by the Islamic Republic of Iran," he added.

Araghchi said, "Iran has never wanted nuclear weapons, and we proved that when we signed the deal in 2015. We have said time and again that we do not want nuclear weapons, and this is not our policy. We have a peaceful nuclear programme, and we have always been ready to build confidence and assure others that this programme is peaceful and will remain peaceful."

On the Strait of Hormuz, he said it should be fully reopened. "As far as we are concerned, the Strait of Hormuz is open and all vessels can pass, except vessels belonging to those countries that are at war with us and fighting against us."