Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi gave a series of interviews with state media on Sunday where he put pressure on the US to accept Tehran’s demands in the ongoing peace talks.
He followed it up with a post on X saying that their proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, if the US ends the conflict “on all fronts,” still stands. He reiterated the adverse impact of the Iran war on the Republicans midterm results and urged the White House to accept its proposals. If not, Araghchi warned Iran will “rain down hell.”
“American voters have made their choice,” Abbas Araghchi wrote. “Time for the White House to make its own. Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results.
“Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell.”
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US midterm results have stalled US Iran talks, Araghchi said
Abbas Araghchi earlier told state media IRNA that there have been no progress made by mediators trying to negotiate a deal between Washington and Tehran since the results of the midterm elections came out.
“We now have to see how long it will take for them to digest these (election) results, in order to determine how we are going to move forward,” Abbas Araghchi said. “For the past few days, there has been no more travel (by mediators), and the reason for this is the shock that the election results in the United States have caused to everyone,” he added.
Araghchi further explained in the interview that the deal depends on “how much political rationality prevails on the American side and whether there is a will to take the wise path of diplomacy or, as in previous instances, to drag the situation toward aggression and military operations.”
The top diplomat added that Iran is not ruling out “any possibility regarding the outbreak of war, and we are prepared for all scenarios.”
“We have upgraded our weaponry, addressed our vulnerabilities, and tested new arms; our forces are at the highest level of readiness,” Araghchi said.
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Marco Rubio says Iran’s demands unacceptable
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Florida on Sunday that Iran’s demands are “unacceptable” and cast doubts on whether the two countries would be able to arrive at a diplomatic solution.
“You have a number of countries that continue to engage them with different ideas, but I wouldn’t say we’re on the verge of a breakthrough,” Rubio told reporters before departing for the G7 meeting in France.
“I wouldn’t say we’re at the verge of a breakthrough,” Rubio said. “The president would always prefer to solve this and every problem diplomatically. Sometimes that’s not possible, unfortunately, but if there’s a chance to do it, we’ll explore it.
“Right now, it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.”
