Iran-Israel War: Iran's BIG statement on talks with US, says, 'Would like to state clearly that...'

Iran has brushed aside plans to hold talks with the United States in wake of the Washington strikes on key nuclear facilities in the country, said Iran’s foreign affairs minister Abbas Araghchi in a state TV interview, directly contradicting President Donald Trump’s claim that talks were scheduled for next week.

"I would like to state clearly that no agreement, arrangement or conversation has been made to start new negotiations. No plan has been set yet to start negotiations", he said on state television. 

 Araghchi stated that the Iranian government is still evaluating whether renewed negotiations would serve the national interests. 

Late Saturday evening, the US joined the intense war between Iran and Israel, dropping bunker-buster bombs on Tehran’s key nuclear facilities. Iran, in retaliation, launched strikes on the American air base in Qatar. The 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel came to a halt with a US-brokered ceasefire on June 25. 

The United States and Israel said that the aim of the strikes was to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. Tehran, on the other hand, maintained that  its program was strictly for civilian purposes.

Khamenei warns of retaliation 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that US President Donald Trump had "exaggerated" the impact of recent strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, while warning of further retaliation, The Times of Israel reported.

In a televised address on Thursday, Khamenei made his first appearance in more than a week after reportedly going into hiding amid an Israeli air campaign that killed many of his top generals. He hailed Iran's "victory" in the 12-day war with Israel, claiming that Tel Aviv's offensive had "almost collapsed" following Iranian strikes.

"The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration," Khamenei said, as quoted by The Times of Israel. "The United States has gained nothing from this war," he added, claiming American strikes "did nothing significant" to Iran's nuclear program.

With inputs from ANI