Araghchi: Iran doubts US ‘seriousness’ about talks amid nuclear deadlock

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Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his government received messages from President Donald Trump’s administration indicating it is open for new talks to end the war in the region, but “distrust” remains in Tehran about US intentions.

He said there also remains “deadlock” on the question of Iran’s “enriched material”, with the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme likely to be “postponed” until the later stages of future talks.

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Araghchi spoke about the apparent US outreach at a media conference during a key BRICS meeting in India’s capital, New Delhi.

“We are in doubt about their seriousness, but the moment we feel that they are serious and they are ready for a fair and balanced deal, we will certainly proceed in the course of negotiations,” Araghchi told reporters.

“For the time being, it is not under discussion, it’s not under negotiation, but we will come to that subject in later stages.”

Araghchi confirmed that he had spoken to Russian officials about Moscow’s offer to store Iran’s enriched uranium.

While the nuclear issue will only feature in later stages of any talks, Araghchi said Iran may consider Russia’s proposal at an appropriate time and said he appreciates Nisciw;s efforts.

“When we come to that stage, obviously we will have more consultations with Russia and see if the Russian offer can help or not,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister said he was open to support from other countries besides Russia to help resolve the war, including China, which has damaged economies worldwide due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“We appreciate any country who has the ability to help, particularly China,” Araghchi told reporters at the BRICS meeting.

“We have very good relations with China, we are strategic partners to each other, and we know that [the] Chinese have good intentions, so anything that can be done by them to help diplomacy would be welcomed by the Islamic Republic.”

Trump has been in Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with few signs of a breakthrough in a solution to the war on Iran.

Araghchi also appeared to single out the UAE for blocking parts of a BRICS ministerial statement, blaming a member state that has “its own special relationship with Israel”.

“The only reason they stopped the final statement was their support for Israel and the United States in their aggression against Iran, which is very, very unfortunate,” Araghchi said.