Iran Dismisses Media Reports on FM’s Letter to Leader on Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi rejected a Reuters report that Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has sent a letter to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei to call for starting talks with the US.

Araqchi underlined on Thursday that the news agency’s report is “baseless”.

He said it was a sort of West’s “story-telling to divert the public opinion” on the eve of Iran’s 11th presidential election which is to be held nationwide on June 14.

Araqchi added it was not the first time that the West has made such claims.

Earlier this year, US Vice-President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s offer of one-on-one talks with Iran, but the Iranian Supreme Leader rejected the offer, saying that the proposal has been made in word, while Washington’s actions show a different course, meaning that the offer is nothing but a cunning move.

Addressing a gathering of Iranian Air Force commanders and personnel here in Tehran, the Leader rejected the US statesmen’s remarks that the ball is now in Iran’s court, and said, “The ball is in your court because you should answer and say if speaking of negotiations concurrent with pressures and threats basically bears any meaning.”

“Negotiation is meant to prove the goodwill. But you make tens of (hostile) actions with ill intention and then speak of negotiations in words. Can the Iranian nation believe that you are driven by goodwill,” the Leader continued.

He further stated that the US needs talks with Iran because Washington’s Middle-East policy has proved as a failure and Americans need to show a winning ace to repair their damaged reputation.

The United States and Iran broke diplomatic relations in April 1980, after Iranian students seized the United States’ espionage center at its embassy in Tehran. The two countries have had tense relations ever since, but have shown willingness to attend talks to help resolve regional issues, including security in Iraq. Yet, the two countries have avoided talks on bilateral issues for the last thirty years.

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.