Tehran says direct talks with US don’t work for Iran
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that US-Iran negotiations are indirect because direct talks would not be effective or beneficial for the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that US-Iran negotiations are indirect because direct talks would not be effective or beneficial for the Islamic Republic.
Esmail Baghaei said that indirect negotiations are not unusual and have occurred before, adding that they are currently taking place in other contexts as well.
“Direct negotiations, in a situation where one side insists on a coercive approach, uses threats, and resorts to force, are neither beneficial nor acceptable to a side like the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said speaking to reporters on Monday. “Therefore, we will continue with the form and approach we have chosen.”
Baghaei also said that the next round of talks may take place in a location other than Oman, adding that the location is not as important as ensuring the framework of interaction between Iran and the US remains unchanged.
On Sunday, Axios reported that Rome will host second round of Iran-US negotiations next week.
Baghaei added that the Iran's main demand in the negotiations is the removal of sanctions, which the Islamic Republic is pursuing with determination.
Baghaei also confirmed that the Director General of the UN's nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi will likely visit Tehran this week. Earlier the Wall Street Journal reported that Grossi will visit Tehran this week ahead of the next round of US-Iran talks on Saturday.
He also addressed Tehran's economic cooperation with Washington, saying: "The Islamic Republic has never placed any obstacles to economic cooperation with other parties, but the real problem lies with the US, which, through complex laws, has deprived its own citizens of any economic dealings with Iran."
Baghaei confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Moscow later this week for a pre-planned visit.
"The trip was planned in advance, but there will be consultations regarding the talks with the US," Baghaei said.
Early on Sunday, dissident lawyer and civil activist Hassan Younesi posted on X that he had heard “some groups and organizations stationed at the embassy building … have been ordered to evacuate it.” The post quickly drew attention, partly because Younesi’s father, Ali Younesi, served as intelligence minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
Hours later, however, Younesi deleted the post and published a follow-up, saying he had been contacted by what he called “responsible authorities” who denied the reports and said his post had created the mistaken impression that preliminary steps were being taken to prepare the embassy for a handover.
Such deletions by political activists and media figures—often under pressure from security agencies—are not uncommon in Iran.
Some users suggested that a potential handover could pave the way for American investments in Iran, especially after President Masoud Pezeshkian commented recently that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had “no objection” to American investors entering the Iranian market.
“Why would Trump push for direct talks unless it’s about reopening the embassy?” one user posted. “How else can US companies invest here?”
Former Israeli official and spokesperson Ben Sabeti also weighed in on X: “Iran makes cheap gestures toward @POTUS for the success of negotiations? There are reports about the US Embassy in Tehran being vacated for the first time since 1979. Is the regime also ready to make nuclear concessions?”
Meanwhile, Iranian media—highly constrained by censorship—picked up Younesi’s now-deleted post, but offered minimal commentary. “If true, this is a very meaningful step,” read a brief article titled What’s the story of the evacuation of the US Embassy building? published by Rouydad24 on Sunday. Fararu, another popular online outlet, published a gallery of recent photos showing foreign tourists visiting the former embassy, under the headline US Embassy in Tehran Draws Attention Again on Day of Talks—without offering any further remarks.
The US embassy takeover forty-six years ago
Islamist students occupied the embassy in November 1979. The students held tens of American diplomats and other staff hostage for 444 days. The embassy compound, which the students called “Den of Spies”, however, has been used as a base by IRGC-affiliated groups, including the Basij militia and its affiliated Daneshjoo (Student) News Agency.
Other parts of the building were converted into a museum and opened to the public in recent years. The Swiss embassy has represented US interests in Iran in the past forty-six years.
Calls for normalization of relations and re-opening of the embassy
In recent years, various Iranian political and media figures have supported the idea of restoring diplomatic ties with the United States and returning the embassy building after decades of occupation.
Most recently, reformist politician and cleric Mohsen Rohami suggested in an interview published by Khabar Online that Iran and the United States could re-open their embassies and that higher officials than foreign ministers could sit at the negotiation table.
“This will have a positive psychological impact, besides its practical outcome, on our society and neighbors,” Khabar Online on Sunday quoted Rohami, who served as the legal deputy of Pezeshkian’s campaign last year, as saying.
Back in August 2024, Mehdi Ghazanfari, head of the National Development Fund, called for the reestablishment of consular relations with the United States. He controversially blamed the Communist Tudeh Party for provoking the 1979 embassy seizure and urged the Pezeshkian administration to act fast before what he called his political rivals' honeymoon with him ended.
His suggestion was echoed by some other politicians and public figures including Mohammad-Hossein Khoshvaght, a former official of the Islamic Guidance Ministry and managing director of Fararu. Khoshvaght has close ties to Khamenei’s household through the marriage of his sister to Khamenei’s eldest son, Mostafa.
Khoshvaght contended that normalization of relations could benefit both countries. "An Iran that has normal relations with the United States is a nightmare for Russia and Israel; for Putin, an Iran with nuclear weapons is less dangerous than an Iran that has normal relations with the United States!" he wrote on X.
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said reopening the embassy was “not impossible” if both sides changed their behavior. Similarly, in a 2014 interview with Swiss TV during the Davos Forum, President Hassan Rouhani said animosity with the United States could eventually turn into friendship.
