Araghchi describes US efforts for dialogue as ‘positive step’
‘Iran carefully reviewed Vance’s letter’ Iranian delegation in Doha for consultation with Qatari officials
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran had carefully reviewed a message sent by US Vice President JD Vance and discussed it at high-level meetings, describing Washington’s efforts to open a broader channel for dialogue as a “positive step”.
Araghchi made the remarks in an interview with Al Jazeera after a Qatari newspaper reported the arrival of an Iranian delegation in Doha for consultations aimed at ending the US war on Iran, which began in February.
During the interview, the Iranian foreign minister confirmed the visit by the Iranian delegation to Doha.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Vance had sent a letter to Iran’s security chief at the direction of President Donald Trump in a bid to revive negotiations and avert further US strikes.
“If the purpose of Washington’s message through Vance is to create differences and divisions, it would be another mistake added to America’s past errors,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera.
The Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Saturday that an Iranian delegation, including a deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, is in Qatar for talks following a reported breakthrough in indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Citing an Iranian source, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said the delegation was in the Qatari capital, Doha, “to facilitate engagement with the Qatari mediator.”
The visit followed “intensive discussions held by a Qatari negotiating delegation in Tehran, which resulted in a breakthrough in indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington,” the newspaper reported, citing the source.
The discussions also paved the way for the Iranian negotiating team to accompany the Qatari delegation on its return trip to Doha.
Sources close to Qatar-and Pakistan-led mediation efforts also told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that an American delegation was expected to join the diplomatic process in Doha.
The potential arrangement would also involve China and Russia as guarantors, according to the newspaper.
The sources claimed that the US delegation could hold direct talks with Iranian negotiators.
No meeting with US officials
However, the Iranian foreign minister said there is currently no plans for a meeting with US officials, dismissing reports of a possible encounter as media speculation.
Tehran sees no need for a meeting with the American side under the current circumstances, he said, adding that Iran’s conditions were clear and mediators were continuing consultations over them.
Araghchi said a decision on whether future negotiations would be held directly or indirectly would be made only after Washington agreed to Tehran’s conditions.
Araghchi added that Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was the only plan currently on the table.
He also said the mediators had also put forward proposals on the nuclear issue that Iran was reviewing as part of the second phase of negotiations.
Pakistan ‘cautiously optimistic’
Spokesman for Pakistan’s military also said on Friday that Pakistan’s Army is “cautiously optimistic” about mediation efforts as regional countries seek to revive a ceasefire in the eight-month-old war.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry suggested that there were positive signs in attempts to de-escalate the conflict.
Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief mediator, has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday, alongside Saudi and Turkish officials.
“Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course,” Chaudhry said when asked whether the trips were a positive sign.
“The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic,” added Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile said Friday that Iran wants to keep holding negotiations, claiming that the US “has time” to do so.
“There are talks, they want to talk, they keep talking,” he told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the negotiations. “We have time, frankly.”