Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that he hopes talks with the United States will resume soon, while reiterating Tehran’s red lines and warning that any American attack on Iranian territory would be met with a military response.
In excerpts from an interview with Al Jazeera published on his official Telegram channel, Araghchi said Iran’s missile program was “never negotiable" during Friday’s round of talks in Oman. He stressed that the issue relates to a “defense issue" and is not open to discussion.
Araghchi warned that Iran would target US bases in the region if the United States were to attack Iranian territory. At the same time, he described the talks in Muscat as a positive initial step, despite being conducted indirectly.
“An opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation," he said, calling the talks “a good start," while adding that building trust would take time. He said negotiations would resume “soon."
US President Donald Trump on Friday described the talks as “very good" and pledged another round of negotiations next week. Despite this, he signed an executive order effective Saturday calling for the “imposition of tariffs" on countries that continue to do business with Iran.
The United States also announced new sanctions targeting numerous shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.
Araghchi stressed Al Jazeera that nuclear enrichment is Iran’s “inalienable right and must continue."
“We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment," he said. “The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations."
His comments are in line with a report in The Wall Street Journal, following Friday’s talks, stating that Iran rejected US calls to halt its uranium enrichment during the Oman talks, although both sides agreed to continue negotiations in order to prevent an escalation.
US Vice President JD Vance said this past Wednesday that Trump would “keep his options open" on Iran and could ultimately use military force should diplomacy fail.
Speaking to journalist Megyn Kelly, Vance stressed, “Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. That is the stated policy goal of the president of the United States. It's so funny. Sometimes you have people who are saying, ‘Well, the president's too belligerent.’ And then sometimes you have people who say, ‘Well, the president, he's talking about diplomacy and he's talking about negotiating with the Iranians. We shouldn't negotiate. We should just bomb them.’"