TEHRAN — Iran has reason to doubt the United States is serious about resolving the current crisis in relations through negotiations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday.

 

Speaking to a forum in Tehran attended by AFP, Araghchi said Washington's continuation of sanctions on Iran and its recent military deployments "raise doubts about the other party's seriousness and readiness to engage in genuine negotiations.

 

"We are closely monitoring the situation, assessing all the signals, and will decide whether to continue the negotiations," he said.

 

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister said that his country was not intimidated by the US naval deployment in the Gulf.

 

"Their military deployment in the region does not scare us," Abbas Araghchi said.

 

US President Donald Trump's lead Iran negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday visited the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

 

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East in January as Trump ramped up threats of war against Iran over its crackdown on widespread anti-government protests. Iran will never surrender the right to enrich uranium, even if war "is imposed on us", he added.

 

"Iran has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear programme and for uranium enrichment," Abbas Araghchi told a forum in Tehran.

 

"Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behaviour," he said, two days after the latest round of indirect talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman.