Iran has “no trust” in the US, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday, while also saying India can play a “greater role” for peace in West Asia.
Addressing a news conference in New Delhi during his visit to attend the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, Araghchi said there is no military solution to anything related to Iran and that there cannot be any solution other than a negotiated settlement on the West Asia crisis.
“We will welcome any constructive role by India,” he said.
On negotiations with the US, Araghchi said these are “suffering from trust”.
“Iran has every reason not to trust US while Americans have every reason to trust us,” he said.
He also said “contradictory messages” have made Iran reluctant about the real intention of the Americans on negotiations.
Washington and Tehran announced a ceasefire last month after the war between Iran and the US and Israel, but talks on a permanent peace pact have remained suspended after Iran and the US rejected each other’s most recent proposals last week.
According to Araghchi, mediation by Pakistan has not failed yet, though he also said the mediation process is in “difficulty”.
He said Iran is trying to keep the ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance but is also prepared to go back to fighting.
The issues holding up negotiations between the two sides include Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its control of the Strait of Hormuz.
On the Strait of Hormuz, Araghchi said the situation is “very complicated” now.
He also said Iran is ready to help pass all vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. All vessels can pass through the strait except those at war with Tehran, he said, adding that vessels wanting to transit should coordinate with the Iranian navy.
Iran effectively shut the strait to most shipping traffic after its war with the US and Israel erupted in February.
Araghchi also asserted that Iran has never wanted nuclear weapons.
His remarks came hours after US President Donald Trump said his patience with Iran was running out and agreed in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Araghchi also responded to a question on the Chabahar port project and hoped that New Delhi will continue its work to fully develop the key maritime transit point that will be beneficial to India as well as several other countries.
The Chabahar port is being developed by India and Iran to boost connectivity and trade ties. However, India is mulling various options after a US exemption from sanctions on the project expired.
The Iranian foreign minister also said that Tehran is ready to provide India with energy resources if the country is ready to procure them.
"India has been a customer of Iranian oil in the past. It (procurement of crude oil) has been stopped by India because of the illegal and unilateral sanctions by the US," he said.
"We are obviously interested to continue our business in oil and energy and we are ready to sell our to India. We do understand their considerations and we do understand the consequences of the sanctions imposed by the US," he added.
Araghchi said it for the Indian government to decide whether to restore its energy ties with Iran.
"We have no problem; it is up to the Indian government to decide but I believe that once the sanctions are lifted, we will immediately go back to the same volume of trade we had with each other before the sanctions were imposed (on Iran)," he said.
"We used to have more than USD 20 billion of trade with India. Now it is much smaller but still in billions of dollars," he said.
The Iranian foreign minister also referred to his brief conversation with PM Modi and wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
"We discussed everything including Strait of Hormuz and situation in Persian Gulf region," he said.
"Our positions are more or less close and we have same concerns and same interests in this important region. So we continue to coordinate with our Indian colleagues," he said.
