Senior Iranian officials have admitted in private meetings that Washington ignored at least 15 messages from Iran seeking renewed negotiations, Iran International has learned, as Tehran scrambles to head off the reimposition of UN sanctions.
Deputy foreign minister for political affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi told editors of Iranian print and online media in a private meeting Saturday that the White House had disregarded Tehran’s messages about resuming negotiations, according to information obtained by Iran International.
In a similar session last week, deputy foreign minister for legal affairs Kazem Gharibabadi revealed that Iran had sent messages to Washington 15 times through different channels but had received no reply.
Britain, France and Germany on Thursday triggered a 30-day process - the so-called 'snapback' mechanism - to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in a formal letter sent to the UN Security Council.
Resumption of talks with the US is one of the three preconditions set by the Europeans for delaying the snapback of UN sanctions on Iran.
During previous talks with the US brokered by Oman, Iran refused to accept limits on its uranium enrichment program. US special envoy Steve Witkoff presented proposals after several rounds, but they were all rejected as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei insisted that enrichment inside Iran was a red line.
The Trump administration had set a 60-day deadline to secure a nuclear agreement with Iran. On day 61 or June 13, with four rounds of negotiations completed and a fifth looming, Israel launched a surprise military attack on Iran.
After the conflict, Washington declared that a deal was possible only if Iran agreed to “zero enrichment” on its soil, a condition Iranian officials continue to reject.
US in no rush for talks
President Trump told reporters in mid-July that the urgency to engage with Iran had vanished after US strikes.
“They would like to talk. I’m in no rush to talk because we obliterated their site,” Trump told reporters, implying he was content to let pressure build.
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on August 12 that Iran was ready for direct talks with the US “under the right conditions” to preserve mutual interests, but his remarks were quickly dismissed by Khamenei.
On August 24, the Supreme Leader again attacked advocates of direct negotiations, describing America’s enmity as “unsolvable.”
“Those who say, ‘Why don’t you negotiate directly with the United States and solve the issues,’ are superficial; because the reality is different," Khamenei said during a meeting with his supporters in Tehran.
"Given America’s true objective in its hostility toward Iran, these issues are unsolvable."
