Araghchi Reports Deadlock in Talks with US and Full Readiness for New Attack

Araghchi, pointing to the lack of agreement with the United States, announced readiness for a new attack and declared full alert status without backing down from the conditions of an agreement.

Amid escalating regional tensions and concurrent with diplomatic movements by Israel and the United States, Iran’s Foreign Minister announced that Tehran does not rule out the possibility of a new military attack and is fully prepared for such a scenario; a preparedness that, according to him, has even increased compared to the past.

Abbas Araghchi, who spoke with Russian network “Russia Today” during an official visit to Moscow, stressed: “Although the Islamic Republic does not seek war, it sees the principle of deterrence in full preparedness for defense.” In this interview, he clarified: “The best way to prevent war is to be prepared for it.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister, in another part of his remarks, referred to the consequences of the 12-day war and added: “The damage inflicted on infrastructure has been repaired.” This statement can be seen as an attempt to send a message of reassurance to domestic public opinion while simultaneously delivering an indirect warning to foreign parties; a message that previous attacks have not incapacitated Iran’s operational capabilities.

Araghchi, continuing his interview, reiterated Tehran’s position on negotiations with the United States and added: “Iran will only enter into talks if the framework is fair and balanced.” He further stated: “We are ready for a fair and balanced agreement reached through negotiation, but we are not prepared to accept dictates.”

He also announced that if the United States approaches with a proposal based on “mutual interests,” Tehran will review it, but he does not see such readiness in Washington currently. According to Araghchi: “They are not ready for a fair agreement, so we must wait until they reach that point.”

This position had been reiterated earlier in his joint press conference with “Sergey Lavrov” in Moscow, where Araghchi clarified that Iran is not yet convinced that the United States has corrected its approach.

These remarks come as five rounds of negotiations between Iran and the United States took place in the first half of 2025, but these talks came to a halt without results following the onset of Israel’s military operations and US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.

At a broader level, Ali Khamenei, with an explicit rejection of talks with the United States and characterization of the differences between the two countries as “inherent,” has effectively limited any path to reconciliation. Given his position, this stance is regarded as official system policy and constrains the government’s room for diplomatic maneuvering.

Meanwhile, American network NBC reported that Israeli officials believe the Islamic Republic is expanding its ballistic missile production program. According to informed sources, Tel Aviv considers this a more immediate threat than the reconstruction of nuclear sites and is preparing options for another attack.

According to the report, Israel is concerned about the reconstruction of air defense systems and missile production centers, facilities that were damaged in previous attacks. These concerns are expected to be raised at an upcoming meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Donald Trump, in dual-natured remarks, while warning Tehran, has not implicitly ruled out the possibility of returning to the path of negotiations. He stated that Iran might try to rebuild its missile program, but the process will be time-consuming, and warned: “If they want to go back without a deal, we will destroy that one too.”

According to American sources, before the June attacks, four military options were on Trump’s table, and ultimately a joint US-Israel operation was chosen. Now, Netanyahu is expected to present a similar set of options again.

The sum of these developments shows that the region is in a fragile state; where Tehran speaks of “full preparedness,” Washington wavers between threats and negotiations, and Israel seeks to keep the military option on the table. In such an atmosphere, any miscalculation could transform the deterrence equation into a new confrontation.