Tehran (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei stressed in a press briefing on Sunday that Iran and the United States have no direct communication channel.
“Our official communication channel with the United States is the US Interests Section in Tehran, for which the Swiss embassy serves as the protecting power. Conversely, the Iranian Interests Section in Washington is considered our official channel in the US … Claims of a special or direct line are incorrect,”
he insisted.
Talking about the latest document on the US National Security, the spokesman remarked that
“from [its] essence, we can assess that the US positions itself as a judge in the affairs of countries worldwide – a role that no party accepts.”
He emphasised that this is more of a security document for the Israeli regime.
What role do intermediaries play in Iran-US message exchanges?
Iran is exchanging messages with the United States but has not begun negotiations, Esmail Baghaei said last month.
“Messages are still being passed through various intermediaries, but this does not in any way mean the start of a negotiation process between Iran and the United States,”
Baghaei said.
“No official message was conveyed to Iran during Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi’s trip to Oman.”
According to reports, no confirmed direct meetings between US and Iranian officials have occurred since mid-2025. The US-Iran conflict in the Middle East peaked in June 2025 with direct military strikes amid the Israel-Iran war.
How significant were the brief interactions between Witkoff and Araghchi?
The most recent documented face-to-face diplomatic meeting occurred on June 15, 2025, when US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman to discuss Iran’s response to a US nuclear proposal.
The discussions were characterised as indirect but included brief direct conversations. Prior rounds of Omani-mediated nuclear talks took place in April and May of 2025; Witkoff and Araghchi led the fourth round on May 11 in Muscat and the fifth round on May 23 in Rome. These rounds were primarily indirect.
