Iran's Foreign Minister Says US 'Begging' to Resume Negotiations

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the United States is ‘begging’ to resume negotiations with Iran. Araghchi also stressed that Tehran has not been negotiating with Washington in recent times, after the US continued to claim otherwise.

The statement, as reported by Al Jazeera on Tuesday (11/8/2026), was made by Araghchi at a press conference broadcast by Iranian state television.

At the press conference, Araghchi initially referred to an old statement by US President Donald Trump at the start of the war, when he demanded ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran.

‘The US president wrote two words (on social media) at the start of the war: “Unconditional surrender”,’ the Iranian foreign minister said.

But now, Araghchi said, it is the US that is ‘begging’ Iran to resume negotiations that stalled due to fighting that flared up again some time ago.

‘That is what they wanted from us, and 20 days later, the same enemy is begging for negotiations,’ he said.

The statement was made by Araghchi two days after he stressed that Iran was not engaged in negotiations or talks with the US. He said there would be no negotiations as long as Washington continued to violate the memorandum of understanding previously agreed with Tehran.

‘At present, we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States,’ Araghchi stressed in his statement, as reported by Iran International.

He acknowledged that the two countries were only exchanging messages through conflict mediators. According to Araghchi, the mediators were continuing to seek a way to restart the stalled negotiations.

‘Yes, messages are being conveyed through mediators. That is not negotiation, but an exchange of messages. The mediators are still trying to create conditions so that negotiations can resume,’ the Iranian foreign minister said.

‘From our perspective, as long as the violations or non-compliance have not ended and as long as the United States has not provided compensation for their violations or failure to comply with the memorandum of understanding, there is no possibility of resuming negotiations,’ Araghchi stressed.