Reference News, July 13 report - According to EFE, on July 12, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Iran is not afraid of returning to the negotiating table with the United States, but he also condemned Washington's shift towards military means as a betrayal of diplomacy.

Araghchi told the Islamic Republic News Agency: "If the interests and well-being of our people are protected, we neither fear nor avoid negotiations."

He criticized that in the negotiation process with the United States, dialogue has deviated from its course and turned toward military options. "That is a betrayal, not only of Iran, but also of diplomacy itself," he said.

Araghchi said that Iran has received "multiple" messages from the U.S. expressing the desire to restart negotiations. However, he demanded "reasonable guarantees" that if the dialogue does not meet the other party's demands, the U.S. will not resort to military pressure again as an alternative. "We know there are no absolute guarantees in international relations, but it is legitimate to require the other party to issue clear signals that they will not repeat the same behavior. Some of these signals have already been expressed, and we are assessing them," he pointed out.

Regarding the possible date for the next round of negotiations, Araghchi emphasized that Iran is not rushing to start the dialogue hastily. "We are studying all aspects, including timing, location, format, and necessary guarantees. We have no intention of conducting hasty negotiations that are not carefully considered, but we will not miss any opportunity that is beneficial to Iran," he said.

Before making these remarks, Iran and Israel had a 12-day conflict. The conflict began on June 13, during which the U.S. attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities.

This conflict occurred after five rounds of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S. since April 12, and the sixth round was being discussed at that time. The negotiations were conducted against the backdrop of serious differences between the two sides: the U.S. demanded that Iran completely abandon its nuclear program, while Iran insisted on its right to uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes. (Translated by Han Chao)

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