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Iran is ready for “at least six months” of war, the nation’s overseas minister stated in an interview Tuesday, as Trump insists the war could be done within two to a few weeks.
“We do not set any deadlines for defending ourselves. We will defend our country and our people as far as necessary and by any means required,” Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera.
“It does not matter what timelines our enemies set for themselves. However, our recommendation is that they bring this war to a complete and permanent end before facing further damage,” he stated, noting an finish to the war should embody peace all through the whole area.
Araghchi stated Tehran is just not in direct negotiations with Washington, regardless of Trump’s claims the US is in “serious discussions” with a “new, and more reasonable regime” in Iran.
“Negotiation is when two countries engage in talks to reach an agreement, and such a thing does not exist between us and the United States,” Araghchi stated.
However, Araghchi stated he has acquired messages from Steve Witkoff, the US envoy to the Middle East, and that the US and Iran have communicated not directly via intermediaries.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Fox News Tuesday night time “there are messages being exchanged” with Iran and that there’s “potential for a direct meeting at some point.”
Araghchi stated Iran has not responded to the 15-level proposal by the US, contradicting Trump’s claims Sunday that Tehran had agreed to “most of” the record of calls for the US conveyed to finish the war. An Iranian spokesperson Monday lambasted the calls for as “largely excessive, unrealistic and unreasonable.”
“The US president fundamentally needs to change his approach,” Araghchi informed Al Jazeera. “One cannot speak to the Iranian people with the language of threats and deadlines.”