Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that stopping Iran's nuclear program is not being discussed in the negotiations with the US. This comes 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 May 13.
“Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has stressed that halting Iran’s nuclear program is not being discussed in the negotiations. 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,’” Iran’s state media IRNA noted.
Iran’s 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 UAE, and Trump is now heading to Qatar. Araghchi censured Trump’s “latest anti-Iran rhetoric, saying Trump was distorting regional realities and whitewashing Israeli aggression in Gaza,” Iranian state media said. Trump had said 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, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that 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 some 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. Iran’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 (OIC) Member States (PUIC). This is important for Iran, and several Iranian politicians came with Qalibaf. Qalibaf is very influential in Iran.
At the same time, Foreign Minister Abbas 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 Iran-Japan Vice-Ministerial Consultation, Iran’s top diplomat stressed that Iran welcomes the expansion of ties with Japan,” IRNA noted.
The report went on to add that “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.”
