Tehran not interested in talks with US, MP says
Iranian lawmaker Fada-Hossein Maleki said on Friday that the United States has sent messages indicating interest in negotiations, but Tehran has no plans to engage.
Iranian lawmaker Fada-Hossein Maleki said on Friday that the United States has sent messages indicating interest in negotiations, but Tehran has no plans to engage.
He told the outlet Didban Iran that “the remarks of the Supreme Leader about negotiations with the US are the final word,” adding that “we tried every path, but in the end it led to war and the wall of distrust only grew higher.”
Maleki said messages had arrived “through different channels,” but insisted Iran does not view Washington as a reliable counterpart. “The Americans want to dictate their positions. We want negotiations that secure our rights, not talks that follow their script,” he said.
Preconditions at the heart of the standoff
Maleki said one key reason for Iran’s rejection of talks is Washington’s insistence on sweeping concessions, including halting uranium enrichment. “Zero enrichment is something Iran will never accept,” he said, describing the demand as outside international norms. He added that “no IAEA member state accepts such limits on its own soil.”
Iran International reported last month that President Donald Trump reiterated three preconditions for talks via Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: an end to enrichment, curbs on Iran’s missile program, and halting support for armed allies in the region. Tehran rejects all three as non-starters.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last week denied that Iran had asked Saudi Arabia to mediate, calling reports of outreach “pure lies.” Maleki said lawmakers and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have agreed that Iran should stay aligned with Khamenei’s guidance.
Araghchi had said earlier that Iran remains open to negotiation “when it is real,” but added that Washington is currently “dictating, not negotiating.”
Regional risks and warnings
Maleki said there is a possibility of US or Israeli attacks on armed groups aligned with Iran in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, describing Washington and Tel Aviv as increasingly isolated. “They are cornered, and they may act out of desperation,” he said.
He argued that some Arab governments no longer view US guarantees as dependable. “Many in the region see that the American rope is rotten, and those who cling to it will fall to the bottom of the well,” he said.
Maleki said Iran is ready for any escalation. “We are far more prepared than before,” he said, adding that although Iran suffered losses in the opening hours of the recent twelve-day conflict, “the enemy knows our readiness now.”
He said Tehran’s position remains unchanged: “Whenever the Americans enter real negotiations — give and take — and prove good faith, we have no problem. But imposing preconditions will never be acceptable.”
“Still, I prefer to leave my artistic work for a day when the Islamic Republic no longer exists in my country,” she said.
Embarking on a farewell tour, she framed her decision within the wider social shifts unfolding in Iran, particularly the growing rejection of the compulsory hijab and the generational frustration she believes now defines the country.
“We are seeing our youth, especially women, fighting for their most basic rights,” she said, describing a society confronting economic strain, political repression and demands for ordinary freedoms.
Defiance of compulsory veiling is now widespread in Iran as women and girls appear in public without headscarves in one of the most visible social shifts since Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022.
The pressures facing a new generation, Googoosh said, have accelerated her own sense of responsibility as an artist.
“People in my country are struggling to give their families an ordinary life. They struggle for clean water, clean air, and land where they can live. Our young people grew old without ever enjoying their youth. Our people must end this painful cycle and gain the freedoms every human being deserves.”
Iran’s rulers have long relied on strict hijab enforcement by police and Basij forces. The current situation comes amid persistent power cuts, water shortages and a weakened economy, all of which risk fueling further anger.
A life shaped by stardom and silence
Born Faegheh Atashin, she entered the spotlight as a child performer and quickly became one of pre-revolution Iran’s most recognizable cultural figures. Her look, voice and stage presence shaped an entire era of Iranian pop culture.
After the 1979 revolution, she remained in Iran and spent two decades barred from performing under the new theocracy, facing surveillance, harassment and a period of imprisonment. When authorities finally allowed her to leave in 2000, she resumed her career abroad, launching a revival that connected her with Iranians who had long been cut off from her music.
“After the revolution, the pressure on me grew,” Googoosh said. “Since Farsi is my mother tongue and I grew up in Iran, I could not adjust to living outside my country. I did not want that life. I hoped I could somehow continue performing for my own people, inside my own country.”
“This sentence happened in the middle of this process, but I will finish this campaign and go back to Iran as soon as possible after,” Variety magazine quoted Panahi as saying at the Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco.
“I have only one passport … the passport of my country, and I wish to keep it,” Panahi added. “Although I was given the opportunity, even in the hardest years, I never considered leaving my country and being a refugee elsewhere.”
Panahi’s remarks come after his lawyer, Mostafa Nili, announced the prison sentence issued against the filmmaker in absentia earlier this week.
Nili said the sentence includes a two-year travel ban and bars him from membership in political or social groups, adding that they plan to appeal.
Panahi, whose movies have repeatedly brought him into conflict with Iranian authorities, said he is aware of the risks of returning.
“I know my films don’t please the government,” he said. “But that’s not a reason for me not to go back to my country.”
Panahi’s latest film, It Was Just an Accident, inspired by his experience as a political prisoner, is France’s submission for the Oscars and screened at the Marrakech festival on Thursday.
It was filmed in secret in Iran and follows the moral journey of a group of former political prisoners who believe they have captured their torturer.
In May, Panahi received the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for the film.
Panahi has faced restrictions and arrests for more than a decade.
He was sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking, travel and giving interviews, though he continued to work in secret. In 2022, he was detained again and spent seven months in prison before launching a hunger strike that led to his release in early 2023.
