Iran to West: Balanced talks or no deal

Shafaq News – Tehran

On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ruled out resuming nuclear negotiations unless Western powers are prepared to agree to a "mutually beneficial" deal.

In a post on X following a teleconference with EU and E3 foreign ministers, Araghchi stressed that it was the United States — not Iran — that abandoned the 2015 JCPOA agreement and halted talks earlier this year in favor of military escalation. He also warned that renewed European threats, including efforts to revive the snapback sanctions mechanism, would only undermine diplomatic efforts.

I had a joint teleconference with E3 FMs & EU HR last night, in which I made the following points clear:It was the US that withdrew from a two-year negotiated deal -coordinated by EU in 2015- not Iran; and it was US that left the negotiation table in June this year and chose a… pic.twitter.com/NFQdK2HZD4

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 18, 2025

Although Tehran claimed adherence to the deal, nuclear diplomacy collapsed after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian territory. The United States followed with its own strikes on June 22, targeting nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, and Iran responded with missile attacks on Israeli cities and the US al-Udeid airbase in Qatar.

A ceasefire that took effect on June 24 paused the fighting, but tensions remain high as uncertainty hangs over the future of the nuclear agreement.