Iran Says Ready to Rebuild ‘Mutual Trust’ with Europe

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
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Iran Says Ready to Rebuild ‘Mutual Trust’ with Europe

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

Iran's top diplomat said Sunday his country was ready to rebuild trust with European powers considering whether to reimpose UN sanctions on the country under a 2015 nuclear deal.

"Iran is ready, should it observe genuine will and an independent approach from the European parties, to begin a new chapter in its relations with Europe," said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"If Europe possesses the necessary will to rectify this path, Iran sees no obstacle to rebuilding mutual trust and expanding relations," he told a diplomatic forum in Tehran.

On Friday, senior Iranian diplomats met with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany for talks on the status of US-Iran nuclear negotiations.

Tehran has held four rounds of Oman-mediated nuclear talks with Washington, the highest-level contact between the two foes since the US abandoned a 2015 nuclear accord.

US President Donald Trump effectively torpedoed the deal in 2018 during his first term, by unilaterally pulling out and reimposing sanctions on Iran's oil exports and banking sector.

A year later, Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which had offered sanctions relief in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

The three European powers -- party to the 2015 accord -- are weighing whether to trigger "snapback" mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance. That option expires in October.

Araghchi earlier this month warned of "irreversible" consequences if Britain, France and Germany moved to reimpose sanctions.

The minister had previously proposed visiting London, Paris and Berlin for discussions on the nuclear issue as well as other areas "of mutual interest and concern".

In his speech on Sunday, he urged the Europeans to focus more on shared interests rather than differences.



Pentagon Chief Says Trump Still Aiming for Deal with Iran 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)
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Pentagon Chief Says Trump Still Aiming for Deal with Iran 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News on Monday that President Donald Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran even as hostilities have escalated between US ally Israel and Tehran, while a White House aide said separately that Washington was not attacking Iran.

"Of course," Hegseth said on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" show when asked if Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran.

"We are postured defensively in the region to be strong in pursuit of a peace deal. And we certainly hope that's what happens here," Hegseth said.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump said "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran," citing what he said was the country's rejection of a deal to curb nuclear weapons development.

Israel attacked Iran on Friday and since then the two Middle Eastern rivals have exchanged blows, with Iranian officials reporting over 220 deaths, mostly civilians, in five days while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed. Israel says it aims to eliminate what it calls threats posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the region widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.

The air war between Iran and Israel has raised further alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel's military assault on Gaza in October 2023.

Washington has thus far maintained it is not involved in Israeli attacks on Iran and warned Tehran not to attack US interests or personnel in the region.

"We're vigilant, we're prepared, and we have messaged ... consistently from the beginning that we're in the region to defend our people and our assets," Hegseth said on Fox News.

White House aide Alex Pfeiffer took to social media platform X to deny online claims that the US was attacking Iran.

"This is not true. American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed," Pfeiffer said.