Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran has not decided to resume negotiations with the United States, as Tehran works on a new channel for communication with Washington.
Araghchi said Qatar and Pakistan, which have acted as mediators, remain in contact with Iran and messages are being exchanged. He further said that the contacts do not mean negotiations.
“These contacts ‘do not at all mean negotiations,’” Araghchi said, as reported by BBC Persian.
Araghchi also disputed descriptions of an understanding reached in Islamabad, saying it called for the “termination of the war,” rather than a cease-fire. He said the United States violated the understanding and that fighting subsequently resumed.
As a result, Araghchi said there was no “60-day ceasefire” that required an extension.
The foreign minister said previous channels for communicating with the United States were no longer effective. Iran is working to establish “an interim channel,” he said, which could eventually become a final channel.
His comments suggest that Iran continues to maintain contacts with the US through mediators but has not committed to restarting negotiations.
