Zarif urges Tehran to hold direct talks with the United States

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says that Tehran, under the current circumstances, should adopt a new approach based on genuine, direct, multi-track, results-oriented negotiations.

Zarif explained to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar that by “genuine negotiations” he means those that “transcend the shackles of the past and make use of every available national capability and capacity.”

He added that the 12-day war showed that Iran is the only state with the courage and capability to strike Israel, noting that U.S. President Donald Trump’s evacuation of military bases in the region before Iran’s response, and his sending of a message indicating acceptance of that response, reflect his recognition of Iran’s will and capability even when facing Washington.

Zarif concluded by saying that this reality gives Iran a limited opportunity to negotiate from a position of strength, calling for serious engagement in direct talks with the West and the United States.

Last month, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Western and American pressures aim to prevent Iran from enriching (uranium) and to impose diktats rather than conduct genuine negotiations, stressing that the Iranian people will not accept negotiating under threat, and that the only path is to strengthen scientific and military power.

He pointed out that Iran “has dozens of senior scientists, hundreds of experts and thousands of researchers in the nuclear field, and this science and knowledge do not disappear and cannot be destroyed by bombing,” commenting on the Israeli occupation’s assassination of a number of nuclear scientists in its recent attack.

He said that negotiating with the Americans is of no benefit, does not avert any harm to the Iranian people, but rather brings harm to the country.

He said that negotiating under threat “is an affront to the honor of the Iranian people.”

He emphasized that negotiating with Washington “is a dead end and utterly pointless.”

On the other hand, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani affirmed that claims that Iran refuses to negotiate are false, explaining that Tehran would accept any proposal characterized by reasonableness and justice that guarantees its interests.

He noted that the United States has set conditions that Iranians cannot accept, including reducing the range of Iranian missiles to less than 500 kilometers.

He went on to say that if the Americans had fulfilled their commitments under the recent nuclear deal, had not withdrawn from it, and if afterwards the Europeans had not complied, the United States would not have resorted to the military option and bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities.

He added: “The problem is in their exploitation of contract texts; Iran has never avoided negotiating to resolve issues; these people bombed us at the height of negotiations, and while they chant the slogan of negotiation, they are in practice seeking other targets.”