Iran on Friday declined to resume negotiations on its nuclear programme with the United States if President Donald Trump continues to implement his “maximum pressure” campaign against it.
Trump wrote to Iran on Friday, asking Tehran’s leadership to come to the negotiating table or face a military attack. “I’ve written them a letter, saying I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” he told Fox Business.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AFP that his country will remain in contact with other negotiators under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, but not the US when Trump persists in ratcheting economic sanctions on his country.
“We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats, but it doesn’t mean we will not negotiate with other parties; we are talking with the three European countries, we are negotiating with Russia and China, other members of the JCPOA, and these talks can continue, and I think we can reach a result from this path too,” Araghchi said.
“As long as the US government continues its pressure, we will also continue our resistance,” he added.
The foreign minister said that Tehran will respond to the language of respect and dignity like in the past, but not pressure and threats. He also urged Washington to observe the conditions of a fair and just negotiation.
“We are in close consultation with Russia and China, and we are continuing our discussions with other countries that are interested. It is natural that our points of view will be conveyed by these countries to the American government,” Araghchi said.
He also brushed aside Israel’s threats to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, asserting that such installations are scattered throughout the country and well protected. “The first reason is that this is a technology that we have achieved, and the technology is in the brains and cannot be bombed,” he said.
Araghchi also said that Israelis have avoided such escalation so far as they are aware of Iran’s ability to respond to military attacks “very strongly and in a completely proportionate and balanced manner.
“I believe that if an attack on Iran were to take place, this attack could turn into a widespread fire in the region; not that we will do that. It is Israel’s desire to involve the other countries in the region in a war. It is Israel’s desire to draw America into a war. This is precisely an Israeli plan to drag America into war, and America is extremely vulnerable if it enters a war in the region. They themselves know this,” the minister said.
“I think that both Israel and America and others are fully aware of our capabilities, and therefore, if rationality prevails, even the permission for threatening Iran should not be given, let alone an actual military attack,” he added.