Iran has insisted on continuing the war with the United States to force Washington to agree to a ceasefire on its terms. This was stated by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a conference with Iranian academics, reports the "Jerusalem Post".
"We were the ones who refused the ceasefire and continued the war until we reached a point where they [the US] agreed to a ceasefire and negotiations on Iran's terms", he stressed.
"We fought with force and negotiated with force and won the war, and we also won diplomacy", Araghchi added.
In his words, "the Iranian people stood up to what was considered the greatest military power in the world, supported and assisted by most Western countries, as well as by several other countries in the region and beyond".
Araghchi said that "those who tried to impose an unconditional surrender on Iran, only a few days after the start of the war, they asked for negotiations".
Erdogan encourages Trump not to give up on negotiations with Iran
The Turkish leader offers Ankara's support
According to him, Israel sabotaged the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington and efforts to reach an agreement.
"The biggest opponent and the biggest obstacle to the implementation of the memorandum of understanding was and remains the Zionist regime. They did everything possible to prevent such an understanding from being reached, they did everything possible to make it fail and they did everything possible to make it not be implemented - and they continue to make such efforts," Araghchi noted.
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump said that Iran should wave the "white flag of surrender" and that there is no set timetable and "in no hurry" to reach an agreement.
"The Iranians are good poker players, but they die", the American leader noted.
He also warned that "if Oman gets in our way" on the issue of American control of the Strait of Hormuz, "we will bomb it to the core".
Regarding the American munitions used against Iran, Trump said that what has been used against the country so far is "nothing special".