Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the continuation of indirect talks between Iran and the United States amid Israel’s savagery is “unjustifiable.”
Araghchi made the remarks in a phone conversation with the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Saturday, a day after the Israeli regime launched deadly aggression on various civilian and military areas and residential neighborhoods in the capital, Tehran, and other major cities.
The barbaric onslaught claimed dozens of innocent lives, including a number of the Islamic Republic’s top military officials and commanders.
In a crushing response, code-named Operation True Promise III, hundreds of missiles were fired by Iran on Friday evening and successfully breached the Israeli regime’s much-touted multi-layered air defense system.
Since April, Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of indirect negotiations, mediated by Oman, over Iran’s nuclear program amid repeated shifts in US stances, which have prompted Iranian officials to criticize the “contradictory” statements made by their American counterparts.
Araghchi said on Saturday that messages and statements by the US president proved that Israel’s hostile measures against Iran were the result of Washington’s direct support for the regime.
He strongly condemned Israel’s violation of Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its attacks on nuclear facilities and residential areas, which killed a number of military figures, university professors and Iranian women and children.
He said the international community should show a decisive reaction in condemnation of Israel’s aggression.
He added that the Iranian government and people seriously expect all countries that claim to support peace and the rule of law to denounce Israel’s criminal actions and to exert pressure on the regime to stop its aggression and lawlessness.
The Iranian foreign minister also criticized a resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, drafted by the US and the European troika, against the Islamic Republic’s peaceful nuclear energy program, describing it as an excuse that prepared the ground for the Israeli regime’s hostile action.
“Based on international law, the attack on peaceful nuclear facilities is completely illegal and prohibited and the international community is obligated to hold the Zionist regime accountable for this dangerous and unprecedented violation of the law,” Araghchi said.
On Thursday, the 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution accusing Iran of “non-compliance” with its nuclear obligations.
The resolution, drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, was passed with 19 votes in favor, three against, and 11 abstentions. Russia, China, and Burkina Faso voted against it. Among the countries that abstained were South Africa, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, and Brazil.
Araghchi pointed to Iran’s diplomatic initiatives to draw global attention to the dangers posed by Israel’s destabilizing actions and called on the European Union and the permanent members of the UN Security Council to take a responsible stance in condemning the regime’s acts of aggression and punishing it.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran gave a decisive response to the Zionist regime’s aggression in order to protect its national sovereignty, people, and security, and is determined to exercise its legitimate right to take reciprocal action,” he emphasized.
The EU foreign policy chief, for her part, expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions in the region.
Kallas expressed the EU’s readiness to support diplomatic efforts in the Security Council and other international bodies to help ease tensions and restore peace and security to the region.
