Foreign minister denies direct US talks amid deal claims
Iran has replaced its top national-security official with another commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a spokesman for President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday. Mohsen Rezaei, who had been an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will become secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, succeeding Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who resigned.
Zolghadr had held the post since his predecessor, Ali Larijani, was killed in an Israeli air strike in March. He will now serve as political adviser to Khamenei.
The shake-up came as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is not talking directly with the United States to end the war with Tehran and open the Strait of Hormuz, despite claims by U.S. officials that the sides are near a deal. Araghchi was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying that “messages are being exchanged through intermediaries” and that Iran is not talking directly with Washington. He reportedly added that Washington must meet conditions set by Iran if a deal is reached with Oman to open a trade route through the waterway.
Trump told Axios on Sunday that his administration is “low keying it” in negotiations with Tehran. “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump said. “It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Khamenei would have to agree to any deal to open the strait.
On Saturday, Zolghadr said U.S. forces should be withdrawn from near Iran, and he said the United States should compensate Iran for war damages as well as lift sanctions. Iranian diplomats said earlier last week that Tehran and Oman were near a new agreement to manage the strait.