‘Don’t trust enemy’: Iran’s top negotiator says no deal with US until rights are secured

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday (May 31) said that Tehran will not agree to any agreement with the US that does not guarantee that the rights of Iranians are secured. In a video statement on state television, Ghalibaf said that Iranian negotiators do not trust the enemy’s words nor its promises. This comes as Tehran and Washington continue to exchange proposals for a framework to end the war in the region.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Ghalibaf said. He added Iranian negotiators “neither trust the enemy’s words nor its promises”.

Earlier on Saturday (May 30), the New York Times and Axios reported that Trump had sent back the latest framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms. Its details were not immediately clear.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, US President Donald Trump said, “I would rather get a deal, because we can open the Strait immediately upon signing. The one guarantee that I have is that there will be no nuclear weapons.”

Iran has reportedly demanded the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before entering substantive negotiations on its nuclear programme, according to Iranian media. Tehran also rejected earlier claims by Trump that its stockpile of enriched uranium would be destroyed, calling the remarks “baseless” and insisting no such agreement had been reached.

Iran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any future agreement, even as fighting continues in the region. This comes amid accusations from Beirut that Israel is pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” through its expanded military operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly suggested that military options remain on the table if talks fail. “I’m in no hurry,” Trump told Fox News, adding, “If we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.”

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