Iran Sets Conditions for U.S. Talks

(MENAFN) Iran's top diplomat signaled openness to resuming talks with Washington on Friday — but drew a firm line, conditioning any return to the negotiating table on the US abandoning its "excessive approach, threatening rhetoric," state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi conveyed Tehran's position while briefing his counterparts in Türkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and Azerbaijan on the state of the fragile diplomatic process, according to a state-owned broadcaster.

Araghchi was emphatic that Iran did not initiate the conflict and that its armed forces remain fully mobilized to repel any fresh military threat. He acknowledged that Tehran entered the latest round of Pakistani-mediated negotiations in good faith, despite profound doubts about Washington's reliability — doubts rooted, he said, in a pattern of broken commitments.

The current crisis was ignited on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes against Iran, triggering retaliatory attacks on American allies across the Gulf and the closure of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire brokered through Pakistan took effect on April 8, with follow-up negotiations convening in Islamabad on April 11–12 — both rounds ending without a binding deal. President Donald Trump subsequently extended the truce unilaterally at Pakistan's request, with no new deadline attached.

In the latest diplomatic development, Iran's official news agency reported Thursday that Tehran has submitted a fresh proposal to Pakistan to restart negotiations with Washington, aimed at forging a formal agreement to end the war.

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