Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday that negotiations with the United States, conducted through Qatari mediation, have made headway but have not yet produced a final agreement, according to 연합뉴스. Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran that the ball is now in Washington's court, and that whether a deal is concluded depends entirely on how the American side answers Iran's questions.
Araghchi spoke after a meeting of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, Iranian state media including IRNA reported. He described the latest diplomatic push as a continuation of contacts with Qatari mediators who have traveled to Tehran in recent weeks.
Why it matters
The talks represent a diplomatic track running alongside a sharp military standoff. Any settlement would affect security across West Asia and the wider region, and the outcome rests on a single unresolved exchange between Tehran and Washington. The Iranian minister framed the choice explicitly as one between diplomacy and a military path, and said Tehran hopes the other side will show the reasonableness to put diplomacy first.
What the two sides are discussing
According to 연합뉴스, Araghchi said the delegation's visit to Qatar was carried out at the level of foreign ministry deputy ministers and was intended to keep the consultation with Qatari intermediaries going. He said discussions with the mediators over what he called a "two-day proposal" are proceeding smoothly, but that no definitive conclusion has been reached.
The minister did not describe the contents of the proposal in the remarks reported. He said only that the final result depends on the response Iran receives from the United States, and that Iran is doing its utmost in the mediation process.
Tehran pairs talks with a military warning
Alongside the diplomatic language, Araghchi stressed that Iran is also devoting its efforts to a military response should the negotiations fail. He said the supreme leader's instructions to senior military commanders demonstrate the Islamic Republic's firm resolve, and that Iran's armed forces have a clear mission and are far stronger than before, drawing on the experience of two earlier wars.
The remarks were reported as regional tensions remained high. 연합뉴스 also carried related coverage in which US President Donald Trump said most of Iran's military capability had been neutralized and claimed the site known as "Pickaxe Mountain" could be struck within ten minutes. A separate report cited an Iranian military statement warning that any American attack would be met with strikes on US assets even outside West Asia.
Those statements were reported by other outlets and were not part of Araghchi's remarks to reporters. They nonetheless form the backdrop against which the Qatari channel is operating, with public messaging from both capitals remaining combative while the mediation continues.
A narrow window
The Iranian foreign minister's account leaves the substance of the negotiations largely undisclosed. What is clear from his remarks, as reported by 연합뉴스, is that the process has not collapsed and that Tehran is presenting Washington as the party that must now decide. He characterized the current stage as one in which the mediators are still working and Iran is waiting on an answer.
Araghchi's emphasis on military readiness serves a dual purpose in the Iranian domestic context, signaling to hardline audiences that engagement with Washington is not being pursued from a position of weakness. His appearance before the parliamentary committee placed the diplomacy within the formal institutions of the state.
What happens next depends on Washington's reply to Iran's questions, which Araghchi said would determine whether the mediation produces a final settlement.
