Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Thursday that Tehran has not closed all doors to resolve its disputes with the United States and is ready for indirect negotiations with Washington.
Iran “has not closed all doors. It is ready for indirect negotiations with the United States in order to evaluate the other party, state its own conditions and make the appropriate decision,” Kharrazi said, according to state media.
“What we see today in the behavior of the US government is a psychological war – pushing a 'war or negotiations' narrative through conflicting messages from US officials,” Kharrazi said.
Tehran has so far rebuffed Trump's warning to make a deal or face military consequences. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called the message deceptive and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said talks are impossible unless Washington changes its “maximum pressure” policy.
“The recent position of Trump and the vague references of certain US officials to his letter and its widespread coverage in Western and regional media are intended to create a kind 'delusional optimism' in Iran,” Kharrazi said.
He noted that some Iranians believe that the US opened door policy has been created to resolve the old problems between Tehran and Washington and that Trump is seriously seeking to ameliorate the US relations with Iran. “However,” he added, “This policy is opposed by the US ruling make-up.”
Kharrazi's statements reinforce some observers' belief that there is a lot of division within the Trump administration on Iran.
Last Sunday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump's outreach to Khamenei on a possible new nuclear deal is an effort to avoid military action.
“We don't need to solve everything militarily,” Witkoff told Fox News.
Contrary to Witkoff's diplomatic tone, the White House's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, said the US sought “full dismantlement” of Iran's nuclear program.
“Iran has to give up its program in a way that the entire world can see,” he said in an interview on CBS News.
On Thursday, Kharrazi, who is also head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and a former foreign minister, questioned the true intentions behind the US strategy, which he said was an invitation to negotiate under the shadow of intensified economic sanctions and military threats.
“If Trump had understood Iran and the Iranian spirit, he would have learned from the past and acted differently to resolve the old issues between Iran and the US for the economic benefit of his own country.”
Kharrazi emphasized that Trump should have realized by now that the Iranian people will never bow to pressure or coercion but will respond positively to humility and honesty.
Meanwhile, in a post on his official account on X, Araghchi reposted a leaked message of war plans by top officials from the Trump administration in a group on the commercial messaging app, Signal.
Top Trump administration officials mistakenly disclosed war plans in a messaging group that included a journalist shortly before the US attacked Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, the White House said on Monday, following a first-hand account by The Atlantic.
“People around the globe—including Americans—now see how US officials look at world affairs,” Araghchi wrote on X.
“Some highlight severe incompetence and, more importantly, total disregard for human life in the decision making. As for Iran, we see perhaps another reason to take the recent political overtures with a huge grain of salt,” he added.
Later on Thursday, the FM said his country has sent a response through Oman to Trump's letter in which he urged Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal.
