Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Oct 23: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has declared that Tehran will not resume nuclear negotiations unless the United States abandons its “excessive” and “unreasonable” demands, signaling a deepening stalemate in diplomatic efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking in Mashhad on Wednesday, where he was attending a conference, Araghchi told state-run IRNA that the suspension of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington — as well as discussions with European signatories of the nuclear pact — stemmed from U.S. insistence on imposing unrealistic conditions.
“We have always shown our commitment to diplomacy, but this does not mean we will compromise on the Iranian people’s rights,” Araghchi said.
He emphasized that talks cannot resume unless the U.S. changes its approach and accepts that negotiations must be “based on mutual respect and conducted on equal terms.”
The sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. had been expected to take place earlier this year. However, the process collapsed after Israel launched a wave of surprise airstrikes on multiple targets across Iran — including nuclear and military facilities — killing senior commanders, scientists, and civilians, according to Xinhua.
On June 22, the situation escalated further when U.S. forces joined the offensive, bombing the nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.
In recent months, Washington has repeatedly demanded that Iran halt uranium enrichment and limit its missile program — both of which Tehran has flatly rejected as non-negotiable.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in a speech on September 23, dismissed any prospect of productive dialogue with Washington, arguing that the U.S. sought to dictate the terms of negotiations in advance.
“The Americans want talks whose outcome they have already decided — the complete cessation of Iran’s nuclear and enrichment activities,” Khamenei said, calling such negotiations a form of “submission to coercion and domination.”
He added that U.S. officials now go so far as to demand that Iran abandon even its medium- and short-range missile capabilities, which, he said, would leave the country defenseless against aggression.
With both sides standing firm, the path back to the negotiating table appears increasingly uncertain, deepening regional tensions amid ongoing military and political confrontations.