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Tehran skips Cairo meeting in rebuke of 12-day war, US sanction threats
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected an invitation on Monday to partake in an international peace summit on the Gaza Strip in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Araghchi said the Iranian officials cannot sit down with leaders who “have attacked the Iranian people and continue to threaten and sanction us.”
Araghchi, in a post on X, expressed gratitude for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s invitation but made clear that neither President Masoud Pezeshkian nor himself would meet with hostile counterparts.
Araghchi was referring to US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day war of aggression, as well as sanctions targeting the country’s economy and energy sector.
In a televised interview on Saturday, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated that Tehran is ready to engage in nuclear negotiations if the United States is prepared for a “fair and balanced dialogue.”
“Our position towards America has always been clear; if they are ready to negotiate from an equal footing, to achieve common interests based on mutual respect, and if they do not mistake negotiation for dictation and are prepared for a fair and balanced dialogue, we too will be ready to engage in such negotiations,” Araghchi said.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Monday pled for a peace deal with Iran, more than three months after Washington joined the Tel Aviv regime in striking the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites and civilian infrastructure during a 12-day war of aggression.
"You know it would be great if we could make a peace deal with them," Trump said of Iran during a speech to Israel's parliament (Knesset).
"Would you be happy with that? Wouldn't it be nice, I think. Because I think they want to."
Trump claimed that the ball was in Tehran's court for any agreement to come to pass.
"We're ready when you are," Trump said during his address which was briefly interrupted as two left-wing lawmakers were expelled, who called for the recognition of the State of Palestine and a halt to Gaza genocide.
Trump also defended pulling Washington out of an agreement brokered under ex-president Barack Obama on Iran's nuclear program.
"I terminated the Iran nuclear deal and I was very proud to do it," Trump said.
He told the Knesset that, “The hand of friendship and cooperation is open" to Iran.
"They want to make a deal and we're going to see if we can do something," he added.
"Neither the United States nor Israel bear the people of Iran any hostility. We merely want to live in peace."