Iran's
Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said the country still needs
more time to decide about the resumption of negotiations with the United
States. Araghchi
made the remarks in an interview with CBS News in Tehran, which was
published on Monday, while commenting on the possibility of restarting
the nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. On
a claim by US President Donald Trump that the negotiations could
start as early as this week, Araghchi said he did not think the process
would restart as quickly as what Trump had claimed, adding, "In order
for us to decide to re-engage, we will have to first ensure that the
United States will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack
during the negotiations." "And
I think with all these considerations, we still need more time," he
said, noting that, however, "The doors of diplomacy will never slam
shut." On
June 22, U.S. forces bombed the three Iranian nuclear facilities of
Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. In retaliation, Iran struck the U.S. Al
Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The
attack took place amid a conflict between Iran and Israel, which
started on June 13 with the latter's surprise airstrikes on several
Iranian cities. A ceasefire was declared between the two sides on June
24. The
Israeli attacks were launched a few days before the sixth round of
indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States on Tehran's
nuclear program and the removal of U.S. sanctions, scheduled to be held
in Oman's capital Muscat on June 15.
