Iran said on Friday no decision has been made to resume negotiations with the United States, as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said contacts through intermediary countries did not amount to renewed diplomacy.
“Both Qatar and Pakistan continue to exchange messages and remain in contact with us, but that does not mean negotiations,” Araghchi told Iran’s ISNA news agency. “No decision has yet been made to resume talks with the United States.”
Araghchi said Iran’s separate talks with Oman over establishing new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz were continuing, describing them as technical negotiations distinct from any discussions with Washington. He said existing shipping lanes through the strait were no longer viable following weeks of disrupted traffic.
The foreign minister also rejected the idea that a 60-day ceasefire tied to the Islamabad memorandum needed to be extended, arguing the memorandum had provided for an end to the war rather than a temporary truce. “The United States violated the memorandum, and the fighting resumed,” he said. “Therefore, there was no 60-day ceasefire that needed to be extended.”
Tehran has repeatedly said in recent days that it will not resume direct talks with Washington until the U.S. halts what it calls violations of the memorandum and compensates for the breaches. Trump has said any agreement would require Iran to halt uranium enrichment and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments normally pass.
The remarks came a day after President Donald Trump said he intends to declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory once the war with Iran ends, a claim Iranian officials dismissed as unenforceable.
