Iran has no specific plans to meet or negotiate with the US over its nuclear programme, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday, against a backdrop of soaring tensions over the prospect of war.
The apparent lack of diplomatic progress comes as Washington increases pressure on Tehran and continues its build up of naval assets in the region in response to Iran's massacre of protesters across the country this month.
The US on Friday unveiled new sanctions against Iranian officials including Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni over his role in the killings.
“We do not have anything planned in terms of meeting with the Americans,” Mr Araghchi told a press conference in Istanbul alongside his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. “We want negotiations to be fair and equitable, and we are ready for that. Those conditions have not yet been fulfilled.”
The scope, location and format of any future meetings would depend on the US being prepared to enter talks, based on “mutual respect and trust,” Mr Araghchi added.
The US Treasury Department said it had sanctioned Mr Momeni, who already faces EU sanctions, for his role overseeing the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a key entity responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protestors.
"Momeni is responsible for organising domestic security services and oversees the LEF, whose actions have led to mass killings, arrests, and forced disappearances," Treasury said in a statement.
The sanctions also target IRGC commanders and other officials, as well as two-UK registered digital asset exchanges.
"Like rats on a sinking ship, the regime is frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Non-negotiables
US President Donald Trump initially threatened to use military force against Iran as reports emerged of a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in the country this month. Activists outside the country put the death toll so far at about 6,500 people, most of them protesters. They are investigating reports of thousands more killings.
Mr Trump appeared to back down from use of military force after receiving assurances that protesters would not be executed in Iran. But he later confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group had arrived in the Middle East, and renewed threats of action unless Iran return to negotiations over a nuclear deal.
Iran has taken a tough stance as the threat of US strikes looms, saying it would respond to a new US attack with "all-out war".
Mr Trump has left the door open for diplomacy but Iran appears to have established some non-negotiables, including the dismantling of its ballistic missile programme. Washington is unlikely to be satisfied with the red line.
“Iran’s missiles systems will never be the subject of any negotiation. No country will put its defence or security on the negotiation table,” Mr Aragchi said.
He arrived for talks on Friday with Turkish officials, who have been holding round-the-clock conversations with US and Iranian leaders in recent days as they aim to avert a new war in the region.
Mr Fidan said he is speaking to Mr Aragchi “every two days because of developments in the region”. He said he also had a “long conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday, and would continue speaking to US officials.
The US and Tehran held several rounds of talks last year over an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, after the US pulled out of a previous deal in 2018 during Mr Trump’s first term. But those talks collapsed when Israel attacked Iran in June, unleashing a 12-day war in which the US also struck Iran’s nuclear sites.
Mr Araghchi said Iran is “ready for negotiations” but is “also ready for war” and warned that any new conflict could drag in the whole region.
“We are even more ready than we were in June. At that time we responded to the belligerent forces and we would do the same again,” he said.
“If the US directly gets involved, then the situation will change significantly compared to the previous hostilities, and they could spread to the region. I hope they will act with a sense of rationality and reason and good sense will prevail, and that they don’t drag the region into bloodshed.”
Turkish role
Turkey has opposed military action against Iran, and has instead encouraged Washington and Tehran to engage in negotiations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday that Turkey was willing to “play a facilitating role between Iran and the US to reduce tensions and resolve issues” his office said. Mr Erdogan was also scheduled to meet Mr Araghchi on Friday.
Mr Fidan said nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran should restart on a “constructive basis” and encouraged the lifting of sanctions on Tehran, and its “integration” with the international system.
“Resorting to military alternatives for resolution of problems is not something we support,” he said.
Mr Fidan also gave condolences to Iranians killed in protests earlier this month, without ascribing blame or responsibility for their deaths.
Turkey is “deeply sorry for loss of lives of people in protests and present our condolences to the people of Iran,” he said.
Mr Araghchi repeated previous claims by the Iranian government that Israel was behind the widespread killings of demonstrators. He described them as “terrorist attacks,” that were, “governed and managed by the Israeli regime”.
Human rights groups outside the country have widely documented unarmed protesters being shot by state authorities in Iran, and security forces placing restrictions on the retrieval and burial of their bodies.
Mr Araghchi also responded to the EU’s designation on Thursday of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
“I’m really sad. I’m just sad,” he said. The EU is making “errors in their strategic calculations.”
