Iran ready for negotiations if aggression stops, says Iranian foreign minister

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that his country is ready to start negotiations if Israel stops its attacks.

“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again - once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,” Araghchi told reporters in Geneva.

He said that “Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful and has always been under the IAEA safeguards and monitoring. Hence, armed attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities by a regime which is not a party to any WMD treaties is a serious crime and violation of international law.”

The Iranian minister expressed “grave concern” about the failure of the E3 countries - Germany, UK and France - and the European Union to condemn the attacks.

“In this regard, I made it crystal clear that Iran’s defence capabilities are not negotiable.”

He added: “We support the continuation of discussion with the E3 and EU, and expressed our readiness to meet again in the near future.”

Earlier, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Araghchi has signalled “his willingness to continue these discussions on the nuclear programme and, more broadly, on all issues”.

“We expect Iran to be open to discussions, including with the United States, to reach a negotiated settlement through dialogue to this crisis situation, which poses considerable risks for the Middle East region as well as Europe,” he said.