Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed direct contact with United States President Donald Trump\u2019s top envoy Steve Witkoff amid the ongoing war, but downplayed talks of negotiations in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Araghchi also spoke about the future of the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 the critical waterway through which 20 percent of the world\u2019s oil and gas pass in peacetime \u2013 after the war is over, and about Iran\u2019s preparations for a potential US ground invasion.<\/p>\n
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Here are key takeaways from Araghchi\u2019s interview with Al Jazeera:<\/p>\n
Talked to Witkoff, but no negotiations<\/p>\n
Araghchi confirmed that he had held conversations with Witkoff, Trump\u2019s trusted envoy for peace negotiations around the world, during the current conflict.<\/p>\n
But the Iranian foreign minister downplayed that contact.<\/p>\n
\u201cI receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran. All messages are conveyed through the Foreign Ministry or received by it, and there are communications between security agencies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Araghchi explained that they have never had a \u201cgood experience\u201d negotiating with the US, referring to Washington\u2019s decision to withdraw from the Barack Obama-era nuclear deal during Trump\u2019s first term. The US has also twice attacked Iran during negotiations over the past nine months \u2014 in June 2025 and with the current war, which began on February 28, at a time when Oman, the mediator between the two sides, had said they were on the cusp of a breakthrough over Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero,\u201d Araghchi said, adding: \u201cWe don\u2019t see honesty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pakistan has been facilitating the contacts between Araghchi and Witkoff in recent days, officials close to these developments have told Al Jazeera. Pakistan also hosted talks with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye last weekend, to try and build momentum for direct talks between Iran and the US. Pakistan\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also visited Beijing on Tuesday to try and secure China\u2019s support for those efforts.<\/p>\n
Iran, Oman to decide Strait of Hormuz future<\/p>\n
In the interview, Araghchi argued that the waters of the Strait of Hormuz fall under the territorial control of Iran and Oman, and that once the war is over, it is these two countries who would decide the future of the waterway.<\/p>\n
But he added that the strait should be a \u201cpeaceful waterway\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gulf nations, including Qatar, have, however, insisted that they be included in any talks to decide the future of the strait.<\/p>\n
Araghchi also insisted in the interview that, from Iran\u2019s perspective, the strait is open for ships from most nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly for the ships of those who are at war with us, this strait is closed. That is normal during war \u2013 we cannot let our enemies use our territorial waters for commerce,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cShips linked to other countries \u2013 because of security concerns, because of high insurance prices, or whatever other reason \u2013 they have decided not to use the strait,\u201d he said. He also mentioned that some countries have engaged in negotiations with the Iranian government for the transit of their ships: some\u00a0Indian, Pakistani, Turkish and Chinese vessels have passed through the strait.<\/p>\n
On a US ground invasion: \u2018We are waiting for them\u2019<\/p>\n
Even as Trump and his administration have spoken of diplomacy with Iran, the US has ramped up troop deployments to the Gulf in recent days.<\/p>\n
Recent media reports from the US have also suggested that the Pentagon is preparing options for a ground invasion of Iran.<\/p>\n
Asked about those reports, Araghchi said Iran was ready to fight US troops if they were to engage in a land war.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are waiting for them,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019d dare to do such a thing. There will be a lot of strength waiting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know very well how to defend ourselves. In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake,\u201d Araghchi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed direct contact with United States President Donald Trump\u2019s top envoy Steve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[936,49,585,632,50,51,47,52,48,166618],"class_list":{"0":"post-506944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-explainer","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-middle-east","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories","17":"tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}