Tehran, 16 November (). Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed on Sunday that Western countries want to talk to him about the nuclear program. He hit out that Western governments have adopted this new approach after “failing” to achieve their objectives through military action in June.
Xinhua quoted Iranian news agency IRNA as saying that Araghchi said that Western powers “achieved nothing regarding Iran’s nuclear program through military strikes”; The appeal for talks thereafter was “natural”. He also said that there is no military solution to this dispute.
He reiterated that Iran will not accept negotiations through pressure. He said negotiations should be based on “reasonable and logical” principles and not “directiveness and bullying”.
Araghchi said the United States and Israel have failed to achieve any of their goals in the recent conflict. He also said that airstrikes could damage nuclear installations, but they could not destroy Iran’s technological capabilities or the resolve of its people. He said, “Our facilities were destroyed, but our technology survives, and our will is even stronger.”
He said Iran has always been ready for serious talks under the right conditions, and reiterated that diplomacy is the “ultimate solution” to resolve disputes in the region.
Iran and the US had held five rounds of indirect talks, brokered by Oman, on the nuclear issue and US sanctions relief, and were preparing for a sixth round, when on June 13, Israel carried out major airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear and military targets, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. On June 22, US forces attacked Iranian nuclear facilities located at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan.
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