Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said stopping Iran’s nuclear program is not being discussed in the negotiations with the US. His remarks come after the recent round of indirect talks in Oman and after Iran was nonplussed by US President Donald Trump’s comments in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Iran’s state media IRNA noted, “Emphasizing that stopping Iran’s nuclear program is not at all an issue in the negotiations, Baqaei told reporters: ‘Our nuclear program will definitely continue with seriousness.’”
In addition, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had just returned from the fourth round of discussions with a US delegation in Muscat on Sunday.
Many things have happened since then. Iran’s top diplomat has been in the United Arab Emirates, and Trump is now heading to Qatar.
Araghchi censured Trump’s “latest anti-Iran rhetoric, saying the US president was distorting regional realities and whitewashing Israeli aggression in Gaza,” Iranian state media said, referring to Trump’s comment that Iran was a destructive force in the region. Iran’s top diplomat accused Trump of “sheer deception by misplacing the true source of threat.”
Meanwhile, Baqaei said Iran was still proceeding with extraordinary caution in talks with the US.
“‘Fluctuations are a normal in negotiation, but discussions between Iran and the US face further obstacles due to decades of distrust,’ he said, reacting to claims about the deadlock in the process of indirect talks between Iran and the US,” IRNA noted.
A fifth round of talks is expected.
Iranian FM called for the strengthening of ties with Japan
Iran is also looking to Asia as it deals with the US.
Tehran’s powerful Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf arrived in Jakarta to take part in the 19th Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC).
This is important for Iran. Several Iranian politicians accompanied Qalibaf, who is very influential in the Islamic Republic.
At the same time, Araghchi called for the strengthening of ties with Japan.
“Speaking in a meeting with Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Namazu Hiroyuki, who has traveled to Iran to participate in the 33rd Japan-Iran Vice-Ministerial Consultation, Iran’s top diplomat stressed that Iran welcomes the expansion of ties with Japan,” IRNA reported. It added, “Japan’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, for his part, pointed to the long history of friendly relations between Iran and Japan, stressing the importance of continuing consultations to develop bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues.”