India can play a “greater role” for peace in West Asia, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday (May 15, 2026).

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he said there is no military solution to anything related to Iran.

He also said Iran is ready to help pass all vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, adding the situation in Strait of Hormuz is very complicated now.

Mr. Araghchi, who is in New Delhi to attend a BRICS conclave, said there can’t be any solution other than a negotiated settlement on the West Asia crisis.

“We will welcome any constructive role by India,” he said.

On negotiations with the US, he said these are “suffering from trust”.

“Iran has every reason not to trust U.S. while Americans have every reason to trust us,” he said.

According to Mr. Araghchi, mediation by Pakistan has not failed yet. He also asserted Iran has never wanted nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview published on Sunday (March 15, 2026) that the war pitting his country against the United States and Israel will only end when Tehran can be certain it will not be restarted.

“This war will end when we are certain it will not be repeated and that reparations will be paid. We experienced this last year: Israel attacked, then the United States… they regrouped and attacked us again,” Mr. Araghchi told Arabic-language news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, referring to Iran’s war with Israel and the U.S. in June 2025.

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Iran has ‘ample evidence’ U.S. bases in Mideast used in attacks: FM

Mr. Araghchi said in the interview that Tehran has “ample evidence” U.S. bases in the Middle East have been used to target the Islamic republic.

“We have ample evidence of this: satellite imagery and electronic surveillance demonstrate that US bases in this region are being used for attacks,” Mr. Araghchi told Arabic-language news outlet, claiming that missiles had been launched from the UAE to attack Kharg Island, a vital Iranian oil hub.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Geneva for a second round of nuclear talks with the U.S. and technical discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf, as Washington has sent a second aircraft carrier to the region, threatening to use force against the Islamic Republic if diplomacy fails.

While the U.S. and Iran are expected to hold talks, mediated by Oman, in the Swiss city on Tuesday (February 17, 2026), the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have started military drills near the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint that connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Oman.

“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats,” Mr. Araghchi wrote in a social media post. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi later said he had “in-depth technical discussions” with Mr. Aragchi ahead of Tuesday’s “important negotiations”.

Iran suspended access for the IAEA to its key nuclear facilities after Israel and the U.S. bombed them in June 2025.

Mr. Araghchi had met Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s West Asia envoy, and other officials for nuclear talks on February 6 in Muscat, Oman’s capital, and agreed to continue discussions. Last week, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in an interview that Iran was willing to make compromise for a nuclear deal if the U.S. is “sincere”.

Meanwhile, the IRGC on Monday started “live-fire intensive drills” named ‘Smart Control of Hormuz Strait’ under the supervision of chief commander Major General Mohammed Pakpour. The drills aim to test the readiness of the IRGC Navy’s operational units and review support programmes and scenarios in the face of “possible security and military threats” in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, reported state-run Press TV. “A rapid, decisive, and comprehensive response by the IRGC’s operational forces in the face of anti-security plots in the maritime arena is at the core of the operational exercises of the units participating in the drill,” it said.

This is the second military exercise the IRGC Navy is conducting since tensions started rising between Iran and the U.S. last month. Early this month, the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone that the U.S. Navy said was approaching USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, in the Arabia Sea. The U.S. has deployed F35 fighter jets, warships, destroyers and fuel tankers, besides the Lincoln, to the region. Mr. Trump has also said a second aircraft carrier would reach West Asia’s waters “soon”.

On Sunday, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi said any U.S. military actions would be met with retaliatory attacks. “Trump should know that he would be entering a confrontation that gives harsh lessons, the outcome of which would ensure that he no longer makes threats around the world,” Gen. Mousavi said.

Iran’s top diplomat insisted on Sunday (February 8, 2026) that Tehran’s strength came from its ability to “say no to the great powers,” striking a maximalist position just after negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program and in the wake of nationwide protests.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to diplomats at a summit in Tehran, signalled that Iran would stick to its position that it must be able to enrich uranium — a major point of contention with President Donald Trump, who bombed Iranian atomic sites in June during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian praised the talks on Friday (February 6, 2026) in Oman with the Americans as “a step forward,” Mr. Araghchi’s remarks show the challenge ahead. Already, the U.S. moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.

“I believe the secret of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power lies in its ability to stand against bullying, domination and pressures from others,” Mr. Araghchi said. “They fear our atomic bomb, while we are not pursuing an atomic bomb. Our atomic bomb is the power to say no to the great powers. The secret of the Islamic Republic’s power is in the power to say no to the powers.”

The “atomic bomb’ as a rhetorical device

Mr. Araghchi’s choice to explicitly use an “atomic bomb” as a rhetorical device likely wasn’t accidental. While Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful, the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran had an organized military program to seek the bomb up until 2003.

Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step to weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent, the only non-weapons state to do so. Iranian officials in recent years had also been increasingly threatening that the Islamic Republic could seek the bomb, even while its diplomats have pointed to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s preachings as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran wouldn’t build one.

Mr. Pezeshkian, who ordered Mr. Araghchi to pursue talks with the Americans after likely getting Khamenei’s blessing, also wrote on X on Sunday (February 8, 2026) about the talks.

“The Iran-US talks, held through the follow-up efforts of friendly governments in the region, were a step forward,” the president wrote. “Dialogue has always been our strategy for peaceful resolution. … The Iranian nation has always responded to respect with respect, but it does not tolerate the language of force.” It remains unclear when and where, or if, there will be a second round of talks. Mr. Trump, after the talks on Friday, offered few details but said: “Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly — as they should.”

Aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea

During Friday’s (February 6, 2026) talks, U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military’s Central Command, was in Oman. Cooper’s presence was likely an intentional reminder to Iran about the U.S. military presence in the region.

Mr. Cooper later accompanied U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, to the Lincoln out in the Arabian Sea after the indirect negotiations.

Mr. Araghchi appeared to be taking the threat of an American military strike seriously, as many worried Iranians have in recent weeks. He noted that after multiple rounds of talks last year, the U.S. “attacked us in the midst of negotiations.” “If you take a step back (in negotiations), it is not clear up to where it will go,” Mr. Araghchi said.

Iran’s top diplomat said on Sunday (October 5) that cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog was no longer relevant following the reimposition of international sanctions on the Islamic republic.

“The Cairo agreement is no longer relevant for our cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, referring to a September deal with the UN agency.

The deal had set up a framework to resume cooperation and allow the watchdog to inspect Iranian sites, after Tehran suspended cooperation following Israeli and U.S. strikes on its key nuclear sites in June.

But the agreement lost its significance to Iran as Britain, France, and Germany — signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal — triggered the return of the UN sanctions over Tehran’s non-compliance.

Tehran had threatened to halt cooperation with the agency if they sought to reimpose the sanctions.

“The three European countries thought they had a leverage in their hands, threatening to implement a snapback,” Mr. Araghchi said during a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran.

“Now they have used this lever and seen the results… the three European countries have definitely diminished their role and almost eliminated the justification for negotiations with them.”

He added that the European trio “will have a much smaller role than in the past” in any upcoming diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear dossier.

Iran accused the IAEA of failing to condemn attacks conducted by its arch-enemies on its nuclear installations, despite it being a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Western countries, spearheaded by the United States and joined by Israel, accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons and define uranium enrichment as a red line.

Iran categorically rejects the accusations, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes and that it has a right to enrichment under the NPT.

Some Iranian MPs have floated the idea of leaving the NPT, while President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran will remain committed to its obligations under the treaty.

Araghchi said Tehran’s “decision regarding cooperation with the agency will be announced”, without elaborating, while adding there was still room for diplomacy.

Iran had engaged in talks with the United States starting in April to reach a new deal over its nuclear program.

However, the June attacks on Iranian nuclear, military and residential sites by Israel brought the talks to a halt.

Tehran accused the United States of undermining diplomacy and urged guarantees and recognition of its rights before any possible resumption of negotiations.