TEHRAN – Iranians are growing increasingly doubtful about the prospects of a diplomatic deal with Washington and its European allies. This skepticism was evident at a recent international conference in Tehran, titled “International Law Under Attack: Aggression and Defense”, where senior Iranian diplomats questioned both Washington’s genuine willingness to pursue diplomacy and the American administration’s ability to understand what’s best for the region—and for the United States itself.

The new atmosphere has arisen after more than five months of unprecedented tensions with the West over Iran’s nuclear program. While Tehran was engaged earlier this year in talks with Washington to negotiate a new agreement to replace the JCPOA — the 2015 deal President Trump abandoned in 2018 — Washington aided Israel in launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear, civilian and military infrastructure on June 13. In the following 12 days President Donald Trump vowed to topple the Iranian government, urged the capital’s roughly ten million residents to evacuate, and ordered America’s own strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. Tensions climbed further after the war, when the European JCPOA signatories (Germany, the UK and France) activated a mechanism that restored UN sanctions against Iran this October. Iranian officials say the move was carried out at Washington’s behest; the E3 is now reportedly preparing to pass a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanding that Iran open its damaged nuclear sites to UN inspectors. Tehran suspended cooperation with the IAEA following the U.S.-Israeli strikes, after the UN nuclear watchdog refused to condemn the attacks despite their sheer illegality. 

After participating in a panel at the Tehran conference, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi answered reporters’ questions. He said Americans are asking Iranians to enter new negotiations after having essentially bombed the previous negotiating table.

“The truth is that when the Israeli regime attacked Iran on June 13, under the order and guidance of the President of the United States, the first bombs were fired at the negotiating table between Iran and the United States — negotiations of which five rounds had been held, with the sixth round slated for two days later, on June 15,” he said. “Diplomacy was the first victim of the 12-day war.” 

Trump said early this month that he was “pretty much in charge of” the June war. 

The top diplomat added that Iran will not concede what Washington failed to secure during the war. The Trump administration is reportedly demanding that the country dismantle its nuclear program entirely and accept limits on missile range so they could not reach Israel. Iranian officials have dismissed the demands as “madness.”

“In the jungle that the U.S. has created, there is no law, and to defend oneself, one must be strong,” Araghchi stated. 

Kamal Kharrazi, a foreign policy advisor to Iran’s Leader, was more straightforward in articulating the Iranian government’s view of the United States. Speaking during another panel, he characterized the current occupants of the White House as a bunch of “showmen” who “have no experience in diplomacy.”

“We will continue to resist pressure,” he stated. “America needs to understand that it cannot take away our independence. We will resist like we did during the 8-year war [with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein] and during the 12-day war.” The senior diplomat added that Washington must try to engage in “real diplomacy” with Tehran. 

Kharrazi did not elaborate on his definition of “real diplomacy,” but the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, stated last month that Iran would not engage in talks that seek to “dictate results” or include nonstarter demands.