Iran president says talks with US 'meaningless': State media

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian declared on Monday that discussions with the United States are "meaningless" and have not led to progress in ending the ongoing Middle East conflict, according to state media reports. He told IRNA that these talks have instead resulted in three attacks on Iran since negotiations began. Pezeshkian argued that Iran's adversaries, including the US and Israel, are not interested in dialogue but are instead seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

The Middle East war began in late February when the US and Israel carried out a series of surprise attacks on Iran while talks on Iran's nuclear program were underway. The two sides subsequently reached a memorandum of understanding in June, outlining a framework for a permanent resolution to the conflict. However, Iranian attacks on ships in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz prompted a resurgence of US military operations.

Since then, negotiations have effectively stalled, with recent indirect talks between the US and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly failing to yield any breakthroughs.

In recent weeks, Washington has scaled back its military operations in favor of economic pressure and has not launched any strikes against Iran since September 1. Iran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has insisted that military means are not the solution to resolving the conflict and that only negotiations based on justice and fairness can bring an end to the war.

The US and Israel maintain that the conflict is necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, a claim Iran has long denied. However, the focus of the conflict has shifted to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has sought to control since the war's inception by striking any vessels attempting to pass through without authorization.

The US has countered this with its own counterblockade of Iranian ports and has struck vessels it believes are violating the blockade. A tanker recently passed through the waterway despite Iranian forces' threats of attack, while another vessel was turned back on Monday after being threatened with attack by Iranian forces.