Iran rules out truce or talks to end the war

Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi ruled out early on Tuesday any back-channel talks to end the war. “My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was prior to his employer's decision to kill diplomacy with another illegal military attack on Iran. Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public.” Iran’s president Massoud Pezeshkian earlier told the French President, “Speaking of ending the war, is meaningless, until we ensure there will be no more attacks in our land in the future.”

Araghchi had earlier told US media channel CBS, “Iran has neither sought a truce nor talks. Such claims are delusional. Our armed forces will keep firing until POTUS realises that the illegal war he's imposing on both Americans and Iranians is wrong and must never be repeated…victims must also be compensated… America started the war in search of our unconditional surrender, and now it's begging other countries to open the Strait of Hormuz.”

Even as President Trump and US officials claimed that Iranian officials are reaching out for a deal, the public

response from Tehran has been cold. Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, mocked Trump, saying "He has claimed he 'defeated' us nine times in the last two weeks. Hilarious!" Iranian officials are quoted as saying that they have been ignoring Witkoff's private requests to talk. Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, they say, has been texting Iran’s foreign minister asking to start talks.

Tehran says the war will end only when Iran believes it has established long-term deterrence. Iranian leaders have also pointed out that it was counter-productive to talk to the US, which they see as untrustworthy. Tehran refers that both last year and this year they were talking to Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, when Iran was attacked by Israel and the United States.

Iranian officials have called for complete withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from the Middle East within 30 days, immediate lifting of all sanctions on Iran, reparation for damages caused by the war and payment of $500 billion in compensation as the preconditions before talks can start. Some reports have put the deadline for compliance as 10 April 2026. If the conditions are not met, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to all maritime traffic, pursue nuclear weapons development and deployment and hinted at allowing China and Russia to establish military bases on Iranian soil.

Araghchi also held out a message to the countries in the Gulf. “Reports claim that some neighbouring states which host U.S. forces and permit attacks on Iran are

also actively encouraging the slaughter of Iranians by Israel and the US. Their stances should be promptly clarified.” The post on X followed a letter addressed to the ‘Muslims of the world’ and ‘Islamic governments’ by the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani. The content of the letter was shared by the Iranian embassy in India.

“…You are aware that—except for a few rare cases, and even then, only at the political level—none of the Islamic governments came to the assistance of the Iranian nation. Nevertheless, the Iranian people, with firm determination, suppressed the malicious enemy in such a way that today the enemy does not know how to escape this strategic impasse…Iran will continue along the path of resistance against the greater and lesser Satans (the United States and Israel).”

“…Is the conduct of Islamic governments not in contradiction with the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who stated: “If you do not respond to the cry of a Muslim, you are not a Muslim.” What kind of Islam is this?... some countries have even gone further and declared that because Iran targeted American bases and the interests of the United States and Israel in those countries, Iran has therefore become their enemy. Should Iran remain idle while attacks are launched against it from American bases located in your countries?”

The letter ends with the following message, “You know well that the United States will show you no loyalty, and that Israel is your enemy. Take a moment to think about

yourselves and the future of the region. Iran seeks your well-being and has no intention of dominating you.”