TEHRAN, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced on Wednesday that a new round of talks with Germany, France, and Britain will take place on Friday in Istanbul, according to the official news agency IRNA.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Araghchi expressed Iran's readiness for dialogue with Europe, alongside its ongoing indirect nuclear talks with the United States.
Araghchi said the upcoming talks between Iran and the three European powers would be held at the level of foreign ministers.
In September last year, Iran and the three countries began their talks on a number of issues, including Tehran's nuclear program and the removal of sanctions, on the sidelines of the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Since then, they have held four rounds of talks, with the most recent taking place in Geneva in late March.
Araghchi also responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks in Riyadh on Tuesday, calling them "sheer deception." He criticized Trump's attempt to portray Iran as a threat to regional stability.
Trump denounced Iran as the "most destructive force" in the Middle East and accused Tehran of fueling regional instability. He stressed that the United States would never let Iran obtain a nuclear weapon.
Araghchi slammed Trump's "deceptive view," saying the U.S. president was turning a blind eye to all "crimes" committed by Israel in the region while trying to cast Iran as a threat to regional stability.
Araghchi said that for over four decades, U.S. sanctions, pressure, and both military and non-military threats have hindered Iran's progress. He stressed that Washington's hostile policies toward the Iranian people are the causes of the country's economic problems.
Trump made the remarks as Iranian and U.S. delegations held the fourth round of indirect talks on Iran's nuclear program and U.S. sanctions on Sunday in the Omani capital Muscat. ■
