Iran not to resume talks unless US abandons 'excessive demands': FM

Tehran, Oct 23 (IANS) Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said that Tehran will not return to the negotiating table unless the US abandons "excessive demands" and "unreasonable" requests.

He made the remarks on Wednesday upon arrival in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad to attend a conference, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Araghchi attributed the suspension of indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, as well as Iran's discussions with European parties over the 2015 nuclear deal, to what he described as the US insistence on "excessive demands".

"We have always demonstrated that we are committed to diplomatic solutions. However, this does not mean giving up on the Iranian people's rights," he added.

He stressed that it would not be possible to resume negotiations "unless the United States changes its approach and accepts that negotiations must be based on mutual respect and held on an equal footing".

Iran and the US were set for a sixth round of nuclear talks when Israel launched major surprise airstrikes on several areas in Iran, including nuclear and military sites, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, Xinhua news agency reported.

On June 22, US forces joined the attacks by bombing the three Iranian nuclear facilities of Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.

Over the past months, the US has repeatedly called on Iran to stop uranium enrichment on its soil and curb its missile programme.

Iran has rejected both issues as non-negotiable.

In remarks on September 23, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei elaborated on the futility of negotiating with the US, saying, "The American side has predetermined and announced the outcomes of negotiations from its own perspective, and it seeks talks whose result would be the cessation of nuclear activities and enrichment within Iran."

Khamenei described engaging in such negotiations as equivalent to accepting the dictates, impositions, and coercion.

"Now, he (the US President) says that enrichment must be terminated, but just a few days ago one of their officials stated that Iran should not even possess medium-range or short-range missiles -- meaning that Iran's hands should be so tied that if it was attacked, it could not even respond to (them by targeting) the US bases."

--IANS

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