Iran said Friday it would refuse to hold nuclear talks with the US while it was still under attack from Israel after President Trump essentially gave a two-week deadline to allow for renewed negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi vowed there was no room for negotiations with the United States “until Israeli aggression stops.”
“Americans want to negotiate and have sent messages several times, but we clearly said that as long as this aggression doesn’t stop, there’s no place for talk of dialogue,” he said in an address on state television.
He accused the US, too, of being a “partner to Israeli crime against Iran.”
Israeli forces on Friday were ordered to intensify strikes on Iran in an effort to completely “destabilize” the regime — a week after first launching a barrage of missiles at Tehran.
The latest attacks come after President Trump said Thursday he’d make a final decision on whether to strike Iran in the “next two weeks” as he held out hope that negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program could continue.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Trump said in a statement.
Read the latest on the conflict between Israel and Iran
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister was due to meet his European counterparts in Geneva later on Friday to discuss, in part, the nuclear program.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has been in charge of negotiations with Iran, is not slated to attend the talks.
With Post wires