Pezeshkian to Washington: Do Not Expect Dialogue with Iran

Al-Taj News – Official media outlets quoted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as saying today, Wednesday, that the United States cannot expect dialogue with Iran amid the blockade it is imposing on the country and its threats against it, a day after the Pakistani army chief’s visit to Tehran to discuss mediation efforts and regional developments.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times that his country is ready for diplomacy, “but we will defend ourselves.”

Araghchi added to the newspaper: “We have absolutely no confidence in the sincerity of the US administration’s stated desire for peace with Iran,” stressing that “there is no reason to expect progress now, as America has shown no desire to reach an understanding.”

Iranian media outlets reported that Tehran informed Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Tuesday that there would be no talks with Washington until its demands were met, in a hardening of its position despite the mediation efforts being undertaken by Islamabad.

Pakistan is a key mediator between the United States and Iran. Its previous mediation efforts led to the signing of a temporary peace agreement in June, but the “Islamabad Memorandum” soon stalled as fighting between Iran and the United States resumed just a few weeks after it was signed.