Media reports on Qatar-mediated talks ‘baseless speculation’: Iran FM spokesman

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has dismissed published reports about the content of consultations with the Qatari mediator on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, saying such accounts have no basis in reality and that no discussion of the details of the issues took place.

Baghaei, speaking to IRNA on Monday while outlining Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s diplomatic engagements in New York, said the Iranian delegation is scheduled to leave the US city for Tehran on Monday night, as previously planned.

“This afternoon, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a meeting was held with the Qatari delegation,” Baghaei said. “During this meeting, alongside consultations on the latest regional developments, the views and assessments of the Qatari mediator were received.”

He added that the Iranian side conveyed its observations to the Qatari mediator and underlined Tehran’s consistent approach to diplomacy.

“Our delegation stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran -- just as it has always participated in diplomatic processes in good faith -- remains resolute and steadfast in defending the supreme interests of the Iranian nation against any excessive demands or acts of aggression,” the spokesman said.

Baghaei emphasized that media reports claiming to reveal the details of the talks are mere speculation. “No discussions regarding the details of the issues took place, and all media reports in this regard are merely speculation with no basis in reality,” he said.

The remarks came as Western outlets continued to circulate unverified accounts of Iran-US contacts in New York. Iranian officials have repeatedly made clear that any engagement with the American side has been conducted through mediators, not as direct negotiations, and that Tehran’s red lines remain unchanged.

Earlier in the week, Baghaei said interaction with the US side on the sidelines of the 81st UNGA session took place through Qatari mediation and was used to convey Iran’s conditions in explicit terms.

Those conditions, already stated publicly, include an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to US acts of aggression, the lifting of the naval blockade and economic warfare, the release of Iran’s blocked or restricted assets, and acceptance of a safe shipping arrangement in the Strait of Hormuz as agreed between the two coastal states.

Iranian officials have stressed that these positions are not new and were reiterated so that Washington would have no pretext for ambiguity or delay.

Foreign Minister Araghchi separately told Iranian reporters in New York that a further meeting was held Monday with Qatari intermediaries and that Tehran is awaiting an official US response through the same channel.

Araghchi said Iran is not isolated and that its conditions, including on the Strait of Hormuz, remain the basis for any forward movement.

Iranian delegation will hold talks with mediators in New York: Report

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Baghaei’s latest statement was intended to put an end to a familiar pattern of media fabrication around diplomacy, such as inflating contacts into secret bargains, inventing concessions that were never made, and substituting rumor for the official record.

The Islamic Republic, the spokesman indicated, will continue to engage in good-faith diplomacy while rejecting any attempt to impose excessive demands or to obscure aggression behind the language of negotiation. The defense of the Iranian nation’s supreme interests, he said, is not a matter for speculation.

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