Araghchi: no talks with the US at this stage, “we see no need to meet the Americans”

A meeting with American officials is not on Tehran’s agenda, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made clear as an Iranian delegation is in Doha for talks. In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, October 31, the Iranian foreign minister called the American effort at dialogue a “positive step” and noted that his country’s conditions must be met. Excerpts were also relayed by the Iranian state agency IRNA.

“We do not see a need to meet the Americans at this stage. Our conditions are clear and the mediators continue consultations on them,” he said. He described the scenarios of imminent meetings as “mere media speculation” and noted that whether the talks are direct or indirect depends on Iran’s conditions being met.

The Vance letter

The statements follow the letter from US Vice President JD Vance to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which we covered in our report on the planned US strikes. Araghchi confirmed that Tehran discussed it at high-level meetings. He warned, however, that if Washington is using it to sow discord, it would be “yet another mistake” added to the previous ones. Donald Trump denied that he ordered new peace talks and claimed, without further detail, that the letter concerned the entry of medical supplies into Iran.

Two days for Hormuz

One of Araghchi’s aides is in Doha, a day after Qatari mediators were in Tehran. The minister said contacts with Qatar shortened the implementation time of the Iranian plan for opening the Strait of Hormuz: Doha proposed five days and the current proposal now speaks of two. The original Iranian plan provided for seven days.

Tehran’s conditions remain the same: lifting of the sanctions imposed after the Islamabad memorandum, a reduction of American forces in the region, restoration of the oil sanctions waivers, and release of all frozen funds, including those in Qatar. Iran also asks that the shipping lanes it discussed with Oman be recognised and the rest closed. Mediators have also tabled proposals on the nuclear file, which Tehran examines as part of the “second phase”, while mediators from Qatar and Pakistan continue consultations on its terms.

“At the highest level of readiness”

Alongside diplomacy, Araghchi did not rule out a new attack on his country. “We upgraded our weaponry, covered our weak points and tested new weapons. Our forces are at the highest level of readiness,” he stressed. The same day the Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, warned that any attack would be answered “with enormous force” and without geographical limits, implementing the orders of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, as we reported. Former Iranian diplomat Abbas Hamayar estimates on the same network that the present situation will persist until the US midterm elections on November 3.