Iran declared on Friday that it would not engage in nuclear discussions with the United States while Israeli military actions against it continue, responding to President Trump’s recent remarks suggesting a two-week window to allow diplomacy to resume.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi firmly rejected any possibility of talks while hostilities persist, stating there would be no engagement “until Israeli aggression stops.”
“Americans want to negotiate and have sent messages several times, but we clearly said that as long as this aggression doesn’t stop, there’s no place for talk of dialogue,” Araqchi said in a televised speech aired on Iranian state TV.
He also leveled accusations against the United States, claiming Washington is complicit in the military attacks. He described America as a “partner to Israeli crime against Iran.”
General Jack Keane, a retired four-star U.S. Army commander, expressed skepticism that Iran’s highest authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would ever fully commit to ceasing uranium enrichment activities.
“The Ayatollah going into this, and the reason why he has never made a deal, is because he had built an enterprise to survive an attack — and he believes they can absorb the attack, survive it, recover it, and then rebuild,” Gen. Keane said in an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
“That is where this guy is. And I don’t see him, in the near term, making the deal here whatsoever,” he said, emphasizing his doubts about any imminent breakthrough.
At the same time, Israeli defense forces were instructed on Friday to ramp up their offensive operations against Iran, part of an effort to completely undermine the Islamic Republic’s leadership, following a wave of missile strikes launched the previous week.
These developments unfolded just a day after President Trump said he was weighing military action, while still holding out hope that Tehran might come back to the negotiating table.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Trump stated.
In a parallel diplomatic effort, Iran’s foreign minister traveled to Geneva on Friday for meetings with several European diplomats, with discussions expected to include the state of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s designated envoy overseeing U.S. engagement with Iran, was not expected to participate in those Geneva meetings.

{Matzav.com}