Iranian envoy denies seeking talks with US to end war

Iran has not requested negotiations with the United States to end the widening conflict, Iran’s ambassador to Egypt, Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, told the Associated Press on March 5.

Ferdousi Pour rejected comments by US President Donald Trump suggesting that Tehran was seeking dialogue, stating that Iran had not approached Washington with a proposal for talks to end the war.

The ambassador said deep mistrust between the two sides makes any engagement with the United States virtually impossible. He added that two previous attempts to negotiate a possible nuclear agreement had failed and ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the current conflict.

A reminder that earlier, US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran had begun reaching out to the United States seeking a deal as US and Israeli military strikes continue against Iranian targets.

“They’re calling, they’re saying, ‘How do we make a deal?’” Trump said. “I said, ‘You’re being a little bit late, and we want to fight now more than they do.”

By Sabina Mammadli