Kazem Jalali has stressed Tehran is a “rational player” that is “not looking for war”

Iran does not currently need negotiations but remains a “rational player” that is “not looking for war,” Tehran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, has said. Speaking on RT’s Sanchez Effect, Jalali said Iran has “never denied peace talks” but insisted there must be “proper conditions” before any dialogue can begin with the US.

The Iranian diplomat dismissed US President Donald Trump’s claims that Tehran is negotiating with Washington, calling them “completely false.” He noted that Iranian officials have repeatedly denied any talks, adding that, as some Americans have sarcastically written, Trump is “almost sitting in front of a mirror negotiating with himself.”

Jalali argued that Washington is talking up negotiations to undermine Iran’s internal unity and “control energy prices,” while at the same time Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are “planning how to strike Iran.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted on Monday that talks between the US and Iran “are continuing and going well.” Speaking to reporters, Leavitt claimed that what’s being said publicly is “much different than what’s being communicated to us privately.”  

Jalali outlined Tehran’s minimum conditions for talks as a “sustainable peace” to start negotiations, clear identification and punishment of the aggressor, and compensation for wartime damage, saying that some losses, such as the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “cannot be compensated.”

The ambassador also told RT that Israel had informed Russian President Vladimir Putin it did not intend to attack Iran but then “didn’t keep its word,” and accused Washington of striking Iran twice during previous negotiation rounds.

Watch the full interview below: