Iran is uncertain whether it can trust the United States in diplomatic talks after Israel launched an aerial attack on the country only days before scheduled negotiations with American officials, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday in an exclusive interview with NBC News.
Asked by NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell whether a deal with the United States could be reached within the two-week time frame recently given by President Donald Trump, Araghchi said it was up to the Trump administration “to show their determination for going for a negotiated solution.”
But he suggested Washington was perhaps not genuinely interested in diplomacy and had merely used talks as a “cover” for Israel’s air attack.
Israel, a staunch U.S. ally, last week launched airstrikes two days before a sixth round of negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials, with intermediaries from Oman, had been scheduled to take place. U.S. officials said the administration was not involved in the Israeli military operation.
“So they had perhaps this plan in their mind, and they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up,” Araghchi said. “We don’t know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was, in fact, a betrayal to diplomacy.”
“We’re not prepared to negotiate with them anymore, as long as the aggression continues,” he said.
Araghchi said Iran would not give up uranium enrichment as Trump has demanded, and he said he had made that clear to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
“I told him several times zero enrichment is impossible,” he said.
Every country has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, Araghchi said.
“This is an achievement of our own scientists. It’s a question of national pride and dignity,” he said.
