Iran-US negotiations unjustifiable amid Israeli attack: FM

In a telephone conversation with EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas on Saturday, Araqchi denounced the Israeli regime’s hostile attacks against Iran as a result of Washington’s direct supports for Tel Aviv.

The foreign minister said the continuation of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US would be unjustifiable while the Zionist regime’s savagery is in progress.

Araqchi also called for the global condemnation of the Israeli acts of aggression, its violation of Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and residential areas that have resulted in the martyrdom of Iranian military officials, university professors, women and children.

The foreign minister then called on the European Union officials and the permanent members of the UN Security Council to condemn the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression against Iran.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has given a decisive response to the Zionist regime’s aggression in order to protect its national sovereignty, people and security, and is also determined to exercise its legitimate right to retaliatory action,” Araqchi added.

For her part, Kallas voiced deep concern about the escalation of tensions in the region, expressing the EU’s readiness to support diplomatic efforts by the UNSC and other international organizations to help relieve the tensions and restore regional peace and security.

Iran and the US have held five rounds of talks since April 12, mediated by Oman, with the purpose of reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions on Tehran.

While the next round of negotiations between Iran and the US was planned to be held in Muscat on June 15, the Israeli regime attacked a number of residential neighborhoods of Tehran as well as military and nuclear sites in other parts of Iran in the early hours of June 13.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami, Commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Major General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and at least six Iranian nuclear scientists have been martyred in the strikes.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Zionist regime that it will receive a severe punishment for the strike, saying, “With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see.”