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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said restoring diplomacy hinges on the United States honouring its commitments and refraining from pressure. The remarks come amid a week of diplomatic engagement that saw Tehran's top diplomat hold talks with intermediaries, and coincided with US President Donald Trump declaring that Washington has no interest in talks with Iran at this time.
Referring to talks he held with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Tehran the previous day, Araghchi described them as "creative discussions."
"Putting diplomacy back on track isn't impossible. It hinges on the US understanding one simple fact: pressure doesn't work," he wrote in a Friday post on X, adding that Washington "should build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments.”
Earlier on Thursday, Doha’s foreign ministry stated that talks between Al Thani and Araghchi focused on “the latest developments in the region and the efforts being made to de-escalate tensions and create conducive conditions for dialogue.”
The two top diplomats also discussed the "phased framework" proposed by Oman and Iran days earlier, which envisages "establishing a temporary joint navigation corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to clear the strait of mines," the ministry added.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had also traveled to Tehran on Tuesday, where he held "constructive consultations" with Araghchi that "focused on the importance both countries attach to resuming safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a joint statement.
Albusaidi and Araghchi discussed "a phased framework” for the waterway, which includes establishing "a temporary joint maritime corridor through the Strait of Hormuz" and a joint mine-clearing project.
Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, another key backchannel figure in the Washington-Tehran negotiations, also traveled to the Iranian capital on Monday, where he met with senior Iranian officials and spoke with Araghchi.
Tasnim News Agency, an outlet affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), cited a "source close to the Iranian negotiating team" as saying Munir "was not carrying a threatening message" from the US, but was instead "seeking to open up space for negotiations and to convey Iran's conditions and positions to the American side."
Despite the intense diplomatic efforts, US President Trump on Thursday noted that he was “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table.
“They’re not paying their troops. They’re in deep trouble. They have very little capacity,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding, “We don’t want to speak to them. We’re not looking to meet or anything.”
Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that “now we have Operation Economic Outcast to destroy their [Iran’s] economy. No negotiations are happening right now, and this will continue until the president feels that maybe they come to the table in a meaningful way,” she said.
The US Treasury Department on Monday unleashed sweeping economic sanctions in what it described as an “unprecedented” economic campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast.
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