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Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi said the country will continue to follow the policy of "resistance" in response to "unprovoked American-Israeli aggression", ruling out negotiations or a ceasefire without reliable guarantees, according to Iranian State Media Press TV.
Speaking in a televised interview on Wednesday, Araghchi said, "At present, our policy is to continue resistance, and no negotiations have taken place." "There are no negotiations underway," he was quoted by Press TV as saying, while also questioning the reliability of external assurances. The foreign minister said that although regional diplomatic contacts have taken place, Tehran's stance has remained "principled and firm". "Many foreign ministers from the region have contacted Tehran, but Iran's position has remained 'principled and firm'," he said. Araghchi also dismissed the reliability of "international guarantees" in efforts aimed at ending the conflict. "International guarantees are not 100 per cent reliable," he said as quoted by Press TV, referring to reported mediation attempts by third countries. "Through the inherent guarantee that we created ourselves, no one will dare again to go to war with the Iranian people," he added, according to Press TV, pointing to Iran's retaliatory military operations, which, he said, included at least 81 waves of counterstrikes against American and Israeli targets across the region. Araghchi warned that a ceasfire without credible "guarantees" would only lead to "repetition of war". "A ceasefire without guarantees is a vicious cycle that only leads to the repetition of war," Araghchi said. "The enemy must learn a lesson so that it never again even contemplates launching another attack, and the damages suffered by the Iranian people must be compensated," he added, according to Press TV. Commenting on Iran's military response, Araghchi said the retaliatory operations were "a golden moment" for the country. Iran's response has gone down as "a golden moment" in its history, he said, claiming the country had prevented "two nuclear-armed aggressors" from achieving their objectives. "The fact that they are now talking about negotiations is itself an admission of defeat. Weren't they the ones talking about 'unconditional surrender'? So why are they now mobilising their highest-ranking officials to pursue negotiations?" Araghchi said as quoted by Press TV. Meanwhile, Trump, while delivering remarks at the NRCC Annual Fundraising Dinner, said that there has never been a head of a country who wanted that job less than being the head of Iran. "We settled 8 wars. We are winning another one. Nobody has seen anything like what we are doing in the Middle East with Iran. They are negotiating, by the way. They want to make a deal so badly, but they are afraid to say it because they figure they will be killed by their own people. They are also afraid they will be killed by us. There has never been a head of a country who wanted that job less than being the head of Iran." Earlier, Speaker of Iran's Parliament, MB Ghalibaf, said that they have received reports of enemy countries preparing to occupy one of Iran's islands. He further said that Iran is monitoring all enemy movements. In a post on X, he said, "Based on some intelligence reports, Iran's enemies are preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands with support from one of the regional countries. Our forces are monitoring all enemy movements, and if they take any step, all the vital infrastructure of that regional country will be targeted with relentless, unceasing attacks." The Pentagon had earlier ordered that some 2,000 more soldiers from the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division move to the Middle East from their North Carolina base, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)
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