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10 Feb, 11:00

Iran views talks with US as capitulation — top diplomat

Abbas Araghchi stressed that "no sensible individual would agree to negotiations under threat and coercion"

DUBAI, February 10. /TASS/. The United States is attempting to coerce Iran into a new deal, but Tehran will not engage in negotiations under any form of pressure, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated.

"The US president [Donald Trump] has reintroduced the policy of maximum pressure on the Iranian people. Simultaneously with signing an executive order to impose unprecedented pressure on Iran, he also made statements about his willingness to negotiate. Clearly, his objective is to deceive us. Why should we enter talks with the United States while under duress? There is no rationale behind this. No sensible individual would agree to negotiations under threat and coercion. The ultimate goal of such talks is Iran's capitulation. But Iran will never yield," Araghchi’s press service quoted him as saying at a reception celebrating the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

On February 4, Trump signed an executive order to reinstate maximum US pressure on Iran. The measure specifically aims to increase efforts to reduce Iran's oil exports. At the same time, the US president did not rule out the possibility of a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressing a desire to negotiate a "great deal" with Tehran.

On February 7, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that talks with the US were impossible due to Washington’s prior betrayal of Tehran. In 2015, Washington reached a nuclear agreement with Tehran but failed to honor its obligations, did not lift sanctions on Iran, and ultimately pulled out of the agreement unilaterally in 2018, Khamenei pointed out.