Tehran, IRNA – Iran has not yet received a response from the United States regarding indirect negotiations between the two sides, says Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Baqaei said Tehran’s proposal for indirect negotiations with Washington is a “generous” and “wise” offer.
“Iran’s response has been sent to the United States and we are waiting for the U.S. decision on this matter,” he said. “So far, we have not received a response from the U.S. regarding indirect negotiations.”
On March 7, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had sent a letter to Iran calling for nuclear negotiations. Tehran responded to the letter later that month, saying it rejects direct talks with Washington over its contradictory and hostile approach but remains open to indirect negotiations.
Baqaei said if such interaction takes place, Oman would be the intermediary.
The spokesman also dismissed any changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine, which he laid out as a wholesale rejection of either developing or acquiring nuclear weapons.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi clearly stated that Iran has never sought nuclear weapons, Baqaei said, adding, “This is part of our belief based on the Leader’s fatwa [religious decree], and there is no misgivings about this.”
‘Iran has never joined any coalition against its neighbors’
Responding to a question by IRNA’s correspondent on Trump’s threats to wage war against Iran in case that the Islamic Republic did not reach a new deal over its nuclear program, Baqaei dismissed reports that the Iranian Armed Forces are on high alert over the increasing possibility of war.
He said the Iranian Armed Forces are, naturally, always ready to defend the territorial integrity of the homeland.
Elsewhere in his presser, Baqaei said Iran has never been part of any coalition to attack neighboring countries and has always emphasized and pursued a good neighborliness policy.
“At every opportunity, we inform our neighbors about the consequences of any warmongering by third parties, whether actors outside the region or the Zionist regime,” he said.
The nature of fire, the spokesperson hastened to warn, is that it is contagious, and “we believe that our neighbors are careful not to let divisions destroy their relations with Iran.”
Iran urges Europe to adopt a constructive approach
Baqaei also criticized the three European parties to the 2015 Iran deal, namely Britain, France, and Germany, against threatening to trigger the so-called “snapback mechanism”, saying Europe should instead pursue a constructive approach to foster engagement.
Responding to a question about Paris’s latest warnings while European countries claim to be seeking to revive the deal officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Baqaei said, “The three European countries and the European Union played a key role in initiating the negotiations that led to the formation of the JCPOA.”
He described the accord as an opportunity for Europe to present itself as a major player. “This opportunity was not used properly, and they failed to compensate for the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA,” he said.
Iran and six major powers – the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany – signed the JCPOA in July 2015 to end years of commotion over the country’s civilian nuclear program. In 2018, however, U.S. President Donald Trump, who back then served his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew Washington from the JCPOA and implemented a “maximum pressure” policy against the Islamic Republic.
Iran waited an entire year after the U.S. withdrawal as the three European powers promised to offset the impact of U.S. sanctions. However, as the trio failed to deliver on their promises, the Islamic Republic ultimately began to reduce its nuclear obligations in a remedial move envisioned within the JCPOA.
In his Monday press conference, Baqaei warned the same European states against repeating their past mistakes. “I stress that the Europeans must not return to their previous course of action,” he said.
“If they seek to be seen as relevant actors on the international stage, they must make efforts based on a constructive approach to build interactions,” he added.
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