“It is clear that Iran is up against the biggest superpower in the world, which has not achieved any of its goals. That is why they are asking for negotiations, and we are now considering this possibility,” NBC quoted Arakci as saying about the US after he met with Putin on Tuesday. At the same time, he accused Washington of “excessive demands” and “incorrect approach”.
According to Vedomosti, during the meeting, the head of the Kremlin praised “how bravely and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence” and told the Iranian foreign minister that Russia “will do everything” to serve the interests of Iran and the interests of “all nations in the region” – to establish peace.
The Russian president also said that last week he received a message from Iran’s current supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to whom he wished “all the best, good health and well-being” in return.
At the same time, the current leader of Iran has not appeared in public since the beginning of the war, and there is even speculation that he may be in a coma after a serious injury. He himself was appointed to the position after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike at the beginning of the war.
Fragile truce even after the collapse of negotiations
In sharp contrast to Arakčí’s statement, US President Trump commented on the situation regarding Iran on Wednesday. “Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘state of collapse’. They want us to ‘open the Strait of Hormuz’ as soon as possible while they try to figure out how to resolve the situation around their leadership (which I believe they will be able to do!),” the White House chief wrote on his Truth Social network.
The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, among other reasons, on the grounds that they are trying to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. A fragile truce is currently in place, Iran submitted a new proposal to the United States to open the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, with the understanding that the nuclear talks would be postponed until a later stage of negotiations, the website Axios wrote on Monday night.
Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is now restricted by the blockade by Iran and the USA, each country enforces the blockade according to different rules.
Representatives of Iran and the US were supposed to meet in Pakistan last week, but US President Donald Trump canceled Washington’s participation. At the same time, the Iranians had previously made it clear that they were only willing to engage in indirect negotiations.
Pakistan is trying to resume talks. But Trump canceled the trip of US negotiators. This happened after Iran announced earlier, according to the media, that its representatives would not meet directly with the American delegation, apparently because the diplomats were not supposed to be led by American Vice President JD Vance.
