Iran rules out US talks ahead of meeting in Europe

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s foreign minister on Friday ruled out any negotiations with the United States ahead of a meeting with European counterparts in Geneva as its conflict with Israel entered a second week.

“The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with state TV.

Israel’s attack last Friday on Iranian nuclear sites and scientists and its military leadership ended indirect talks between Tehran and Washington about Iran’s nuclear program. Overnight, after Israel’s air force hit multiple military industry sites in Tehran, including what it claimed were research and development facilities. Iran retaliated early Friday morning, firing missiles into southern Israel and injuring several people.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that their “responses to the enemy will be harsher and more regrettable,” unless Israel halts its attacks.

“The only way to end the imposed war is to unconditionally stop the enemy's aggression and provide a definitive guarantee to end the adventures of Zionist terrorists forever,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded to Araghchi’s remarks on X saying that “nothing has changed. Iran is misleading the world and simply trying to waste time,” adding that Tehran “has no intention of giving up its nuclear program.”

Araghchi will meet with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in Geneva on Friday, he confirmed to Iranian state media.

Ahead of their talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday spoke separately with the French and British foreign ministers.

“The United States and the UK agree Iran should never get a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said on X, following his meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Regarding Rubio’s conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, the US State Department said in a statement that they “agreed to continue to cooperate closely to ensure Iran never develops or acquires a nuclear weapon.”

Lammy reiterated the opposition to Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon and said, in a post on X, “A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.”

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that in two weeks he would make a decision on whether the US will become directly involved in the conflict, adding that there is “a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.”

Trump had suggested on Monday that Iran may be open to negotiations, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei dismissed the possibility, saying that Israeli attacks have “practically emptied the diplomatic process and negotiations of meaning and substance.”

According to official figures, around 230 people - mostly civilians - have been killed in Iran and 1,300 injured since the escalation began last Friday. In Israel, authorities report at least 25 civilian deaths and more than 600 injuries.

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