No message sent to US on resumption of nuclear talks: Tehran
Iran, Russia FMs sign cooperation document
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday dismissed some speculation about resumption of nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, saying that, "No message has been sent to the American side from Iran."
Iran and the United States were in the middle of negotiations to resolve a decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear program when Israel launched an unprovoked aggression against Iran in June.
The US also joined the attacks and carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
The attacks derailed the negotiations which had been started in April. Speaking during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Araghchi said, "We did not leave the negotiation table; rather, it was the Americans who betrayed diplomacy in the middle of the negotiations by launching military aggression against Iran."
"If the Americans correct their approach and are ready to negotiate on equal footing and mutual respect and based on mutual interests, we will consider it (resumption of talks) again."
However, he said that based on the experience Iran has gained over the past year, what they (Americans) mean by negotiation is dictating their positions.
Negotiations with Europe
He also referred to the possibility of any talks with the European parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement – Germany, France and the UK, saying that the European powers have no longer any capacity for negotiation due to their illegal activation of the snapback mechanism under the 2015 nuclear agreement.
“They have practically lost their last tool and capacity for negotiations; therefore, Iran sees no reason to enter into dialogue again with these three countries," the Iranian foreign minister told reporters.
Russia’s support for Iran
Citing Russia’s support for Iran’s right to uranium enrichment, its positive role in the 2015 nuclear talks and Moscow’s “constructive and decisive” position at the UN Security Council regarding Europeans’ anti-Iran moves as well as US-Israel strikes on Iran, Araghchi said that the Islamic Republic appreciates Russia for its supportive stances, stressing that, “We trust Russia and its goodwill” toward Iran.
Cooperation roadmap
The Iranian foreign minister also announced the signing of a cooperation document between the two countries’ foreign ministries. He said the strategic partnership between Iran and Russia has entered “a new, accelerated phase” following the signing of a three-year cooperation roadmap with his Russian counterpart.
Araghchi confirmed that the newly signed document establishes the agenda for the two foreign ministries from 2026 to 2028, acting as a “roadmap for future three-year cooperation.”
Russia’s foreign minister, for his part, said, “Without any doubt, the main and key document in our relations is the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was signed this year and has entered into force.”
The comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, signed in January by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, and ratified by both countries’ parliaments, commits Moscow and Tehran to closer cooperation across political, economic, security and technological fields.