Speaking in a televised interview on Wednesday night, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said he was “surprised by the strange atmosphere created in the media regarding a normal diplomatic trip,” stressing that “such a trip is a routine measure in diplomatic activities.”
Baqaei said the meeting in New York was a standard consultative session organized by China in its capacity as the rotating president of the UN Security Council for May.
The agenda focused on “strengthening international peace and security based on the principles of the United Nations Charter,” he said.
The spokesperson also provided an update on the latest exchanges of messages between Iran and the United States, saying Tehran had received the American side’s views and was currently reviewing them.
The US and Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran on February 28 with air raids that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders and targeted civilian infrastructure, residential areas, educational institutes, and historical and cultural sites.
In response, the Iranian Armed Forces unleashed 100 waves of successful strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.
On April 8, after 40 days of US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, Tehran and Washington reached a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, followed by inconclusive negotiations to permanently end the war.
Referring to the recent visit of Pakistan’s interior minister to Tehran, Baqaei said the Pakistani official was helping facilitate the exchange of messages between the two sides.
“Many times, intermediary parties prefer to be present alongside the texts being exchanged and help with the process,” he said.
Baqaei said Iran was currently focused on “ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon,” while reiterating Tehran’s longstanding demands in the talks.
“Our demands are clear,” he said, citing the release of Iran’s blocked assets, issues related to US “maritime piracy,” and “harassing actions” against the shipping activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He stressed that Iran had entered the process “with complete goodwill and seriousness,” but said the US must prove its commitment.
“We view the other side with intense suspicion and entirely based on our right to do so, because of their very bad record over the past year and a half,” Baqaei said. “At the same time, we are pursuing the discussions with full capability and complete goodwill.”
Iran’s Armed Forces remained vigilant because “we absolutely cannot have the slightest trust or goodwill toward the other side,” he added.
Baqaei also rejected reported US ultimatums toward Iran, saying, “For the Islamic Republic of Iran, talking about ultimatums and deadlines is ridiculous.”
