Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday refuted US President Donald Trump’s “Iran has reached out to make a deal” claim, saying that Tehran never asked for ceasefire and negotiation.
Speaking to the CBS News, Araghchi said, “We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us.”
The Iranian minister said that the United States and its President has chosen this war and that Tehran will continue to defend itself.
“This is a war of choice by President Trump and the United States, and we are going to continue our self defence,” he said.
Iran open to talks with countries seeking safe passage through Strait of Hormuz
Amid concerns over Iranian attacks on ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, Araghchi said that Irannis open to countries who wish to talk regarding safe passage of vessels through the shipping route.
He also infomred that several countries have approached Iran, seeking safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier this week, Iran attacked a number of cargo vessels crossing the Hormuz, a move that prompted US President Trump to urge allies to send naval ships to open the shipping route.
‘Iran offered to dilute its enriched Uranium but US attacked’
The Iranian minister also sought to put the blame for the Middle East conflict on the US and Israel, saying that Iran had offered “dilute the enriched material into a lower percentage” when the US and Iran nuclear talks were underway.
“That was a big concession,” he said, adding that the “conflict has changed this.”
“There is nothing on the table right now, everything depends on the future,” he said.
He also admitted that Iran’s nuclear facilities are under rubble and Tehran has no plan to recover them at the moment.
His remarks came after US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran wants to make a deal with he refused as the terms weren’t “good enough”.