Iran's president says US talks clouded by deep distrust

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said that fresh negotiations with the United States are unfolding in a climate of profound mistrust, charging Washington with failing to stand by agreements it has made.

Speaking during a meeting with American experts and journalists on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, Pezeshkian said the central obstacle was the absence of confidence between the two sides. Trust, he argued, can only take root when parties honour what they have committed to within the established rules. He added that the United States has not done so, which is why the same difficulties keep resurfacing.

Recounting the recent past, the Iranian president said that previous rounds of dialogue had repeatedly been followed by military strikes. He described a cycle in which talks were held, bombings followed, negotiations resumed, further strikes occurred, and an understanding was eventually reached and signed by both presidents — only for the arrangement to collapse within a fortnight and war to break out again.

His remarks were delivered on Thursday and carried in part by Iranian state media the following day.

Separately, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, set out a proposal during a private gathering in New York, according to a person who attended. Under the offer, Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to talks on its nuclear programme within seven days, provided the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that extends to Lebanon.

The White House said on Friday that American officials were engaged in positive and constructive conversations with mediators regarding the Iran war, and that the United States was facilitating substantial oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.