The chancellor of Iran’s Islamic regime, Abbas Araqchi, admitted in an interview released this Wednesday (25) that Tehran received messages from the United States to discuss the end of the ongoing war, but stated that the Persian country does not intend to start negotiations at this time.
In an interview with an Iranian state broadcaster, Araqchi said that messages are being exchanged with the US through mediating countries, but denied that this means there are formal negotiations. According to the chancellor, the regime’s current policy is to maintain what he called “resistance”.
“Sending messages through different mediators does not mean negotiation,” said Araqchi.
Araqchi said the fact that Washington is mentioning negotiations to end the war at this time is “an admission of defeat.”
“They talked about unconditional surrender. Now they talk about negotiation. That, in itself, is an admission of defeat,” he declared.
The chancellor declared that any agreement to end the war will only be accepted if it occurs “under the terms defined by Tehran”.
“We seek to end the war on our own terms, so that it does not happen again,” he said.
The United States government sent Iran this week, through mediator countries, a proposal to end the war. The plan includes points related to the end of the Iranian nuclear program, the end of missile development and the security of maritime routes in the Persian Gulf.
Tehran responded negatively to the proposal on Wednesday and presented its own conditions for ending the war. Among them would be guarantees that new attacks will not occur, recognition of “the country’s rights” over strategic areas and the end of military operations against terrorist groups allied with Iran in the region.
Earlier, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that United States President Donald Trump is willing to intensify attacks if Iran does not accept a deal to end the war. Leavitt also said that Trump “does not bluff” and that Iran should not make “miscalculations” in the face of warnings made by Washington.
