Nournews: A meeting was held between Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ambassadors, chargés d’affaires, and heads of foreign and international missions based in Tehran. During the meeting, he announced the beginning of a new phase in the process of Iran–U.S. talks.
Speaking about the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, Araghchi said that the agreement was finalized on Sunday and will soon be formally signed, most likely on Friday at a location yet to be determined. On the same day, a new round of Iran–U.S. negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement will begin.
He added that due to difficulties in reaching an understanding and because of what he described as U.S. and Israeli aggression against Iran, it was decided to divide the negotiations into two phases. The first phase focuses on ending the war, issues related to the Strait of Hormuz, the release of Iran’s frozen assets, and reconstruction efforts. Negotiations would then continue for 60 days with the goal of reaching a final agreement addressing the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.
The foreign minister stated that the first phase has now been finalized. According to him, the most important element of this phase is the declaration of the end of the war. Based on the parties’ decision, once the agreement was finalized on Monday morning, the end of the war was also announced. However, the memorandum itself will officially take effect on Friday. Nevertheless, the announcement ending the war was made on Monday.
He continued by saying that hostilities have ended on all fronts, including Lebanon. Because developments in Lebanon became linked to the conflict involving Iran and the two fronts became interconnected, Iran had considered ending the war in Lebanon an essential prerequisite for ending the war involving Iran from the very beginning.
Araghchi stressed that now that an end to the war has been achieved, the war in Lebanon must also come to an end. According to Iran’s view, the parties to the memorandum are, on one side, the United States and Israel, and on the other side, Iran and Hezbollah. He stated that ending the war also includes ending the occupation of Lebanese territory. In his view, the war cannot be considered over unless Israel withdraws from Lebanon.
He further emphasized that ending the war in Lebanon is an inseparable part of a comprehensive end to the conflict and that the end of the war necessarily includes the end of occupation. Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied during the conflict, the war cannot be regarded as fully concluded. He added that any future Israeli military action against Lebanon, as well as the continued occupation of Lebanese territory, would be considered a violation of the memorandum of understanding.
During the meeting, Iran’s foreign minister also expressed gratitude to Qatar and Pakistan for their efforts.
Nournews