Iran’s top diplomat hopeful for negotiations even amid US military buildup

Even with US forces poised to strike Iran, the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CNN Sunday that he was “confident that we can achieve a deal” with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear weapons program.

“Unfortunately, we have lost our trust [in] the US as a negotiating partner,” he said, but the exchange of messages through friendly countries in the region was facilitating “fruitful” talks with the US.

There appeared to be similar optimism on the US side this weekend. Aboard Air Force One Saturday, US President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran was “talking to us, seriously talking to us.”

Refusing to promise that Iran would engage in direct talks with US negotiators, Araghchi highlighted the need to address the “substance of negotiations” rather than the form.

His remarks came as Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, struck a defiant tone, warning that any US strike on Iran would result in a regional war.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sits down for an interview with CNN's Fred Pleitgen on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sits down for an interview with CNN's Fred Pleitgen on Sunday. CNN

Khamenei told a crowd at the Imam Khomeini mosque in Tehran on Sunday that Iran does not “intend to attack any country, but the Iranian nation will deliver a firm blow to anyone who attacks and harasses it,” according to state media.