US talks impossible under Trump's maximum pressure policy, Iran says

Iran's Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that direct talks with the US will not happen as long as maximum pressure policies continue under President Donald Trump.

"Iran's position in the nuclear talks is completely clear, and we will not negotiate under pressure and sanctions. There is no possibility of direct negotiations between us and the US as long as maximum pressure is being applied in this manner," Abbas Araghchi said.

He was speaking at a joint press conference with Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on a visit to Tehran.

"Regarding Iran's nuclear issue, we will move forward and coordinate our positions in cooperation with our friends in Russia and China," Araghchi added as the trio grow ever closer.

In 2018, during his first term, Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions or JCPOA, and imposed 'maximum pressure' sanctions on Tehran, practically reducing Iran’s oil exports to less than 500,000 barrels per day and blocking the revenues in foreign banks. 

Lavrov's visit also follows a new wave of US sanctions targeting Iran’s oil industry, the country’s primary source of revenue.

He arrived in Tehran for discussions with his counterpart a few days after Moscow and Washington held talks in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, Trump reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign, aiming to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero—reviving Washington’s hardline approach from his first term.

However, in spite of Tehran's position, Lavrov remained optimistic. "The capacity for diplomacy regarding Iran's nuclear program still exists," state-media quoted him as saying.

Moscow and Tehran have deepened their defense ties since the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, a partnership that has increasingly drawn Western ire. China too, has become an ever stronger ally, the three conducting multiple military drills together.

Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Lavrov as a follow up to President Donald Trump’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on negotiations to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, according to a statement by the US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

"President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together," Bruce said. "President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that."