Araghchi: Iran Ready for War and Talks, Trump to Decide
Iranian minister Araghchi told NBC that Tehran is ready for both war and negotiations. Trump tells Axios new talks are coming this week, but an Iranian source denies it.
Brent crude closed last week at $104 a barrel, after climbing as high as $108 on Thursday, and the main driver behind that swing is the partially closed Strait of Hormuz, through which a large share of the world’s oil flows. For an economy like Serbia’s, which imports its energy, every new twist in relations between Washington and Tehran carries a direct price tag at the pump, so the statements Iranian and American officials made on Sunday, September 27, are not just a diplomatic footnote on the other side of the world.
Araghchi: We Are Ready for Both War and Diplomacy
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday and delivered a line that sums up Tehran’s current posture toward Washington.
“We are fully ready for the moment the war resumes, and I repeat, we stand firm against any fresh aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war. At the same time, we are ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose.”
With that, Araghchi confirmed what Tehran had already signaled: it will not accept terms it considers humiliating, but the door to negotiations remains open.
Trump: I Expect New Talks, Iran Overplayed Its Hand
President Donald Trump had, a day before Araghchi’s appearance, on Saturday, rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, under which the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and peace talks would resume within seven days. In exchange, Iran had asked for the US naval blockade to be lifted, relief from oil sanctions, and a ceasefire that would also cover Lebanon.
Still, on Sunday, in a phone call with Axios, Trump announced that indirect talks would continue later this week.
“I expect more talks with Iran. They want to make a deal, but it’s not the deal I want to make. It’s something we might have agreed to a year ago. They overplayed their hand.”
Asked whether he was ruling out new strikes on Iran, Trump answered briefly: “I always think about that.”
Iranian Side Denies New Round Is Coming
That is where the two accounts diverge. While Trump told Axios to expect talks this week, a source close to Iran’s delegation at the United Nations told the state news agency IRNA that a new round of talks with the Americans is not currently on the agenda, and that Minister Araghchi is due back in Tehran on Tuesday.
“The positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran were conveyed clearly and explicitly to the American side last Tuesday through the Qatari mediator, and Iran is waiting for the American side’s response.”
According to that source, Tehran had already sent its proposal to Washington the previous Tuesday through a Qatari intermediary and is now waiting for a formal reply rather than announcing a fresh round of talks. Earlier discussions in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, were held between American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on one side and Araghchi on the other.
Rial at Record Low, Inflation Tops 60 Percent
While diplomacy stalls, Iran’s economy is absorbing the full weight of the war and the sanctions. The national currency, the rial, has fallen to a record low of 2.4 million rials to the dollar. Annual inflation stood at 61.4 percent in August, and food prices have jumped 128 percent over the past year.
Iran has also filed a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over US flight restrictions. The head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Abuzar Sirudi, explained the move this way:
“To defend the legitimate rights of the aviation industry and to oppose the unlawful restrictions imposed by the United States, Iran has drafted and submitted a formal protest.”
Seven Months Without a Breakthrough
The war began on February 28, and the ceasefire reached in June, which set a 60-day deadline for a lasting solution, expired last month without any breakthrough. Since then, talks have continued in fits and starts, sometimes direct, sometimes through mediators, while neither side’s position, at least in public, has shifted much.
Srpske Novine reported on Saturday that Trump had rejected Iran’s seven-day plan for the Strait of Hormuz. British police also arrested five men on Sunday near an air base the United States uses for strikes on Iran, over suspicion of a planned terrorist attack, and any possible link to Tehran is now under investigation.
Neither side has announced a specific date or location for their next meeting, and the price of oil and the rial’s exchange rate remain the clearest signs of just how far the situation still is from a resolution.
