Iran calls Trump’s direct talks on nuclear deal ‘meaningless’
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran is ‘ready to try the path of indirect negotiations’
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday rejected direct negotiations with the United States as “meaningless”, after US President Donald Trump said he would prefer direct talks with the Islamic republic.
Trump had called last month on Tehran to hold negotiations on its nuclear programme with Washington, but threatened to bomb Iran if diplomacy fails.
On Thursday, the US president said he would prefer to hold “direct talks” with Iran.
“I think it goes faster and you understand the other side a lot better than if you go through intermediaries,” he argued.
But on Sunday, Araghchi said “direct negotiations would be meaningless with a party that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter and that expresses contradictory positions from its various officials”.
“We remain committed to diplomacy and are ready to try the path of indirect negotiations,” he added, according to a foreign ministry statement.