Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the responsibility for the consequences of the war lay with “aggressors,” referring to the United States and Israel, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Araghchi’s comments during a meeting with South Korean special envoy, Chung Byung-ha, in Tehran, the ministry said in a post on X. Chung Byung-ha
His comments came after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, just hours before it was due to expire, to allow more time for negotiations.
It also followed uncertainty over a second round of US-Iran talks that Islamabad had been preparing to host, which ultimately did not materialize.
US Vice President JD Vance had been expected to travel for the talks, but a White House official confirmed he would not depart. Iran, on the other hand, never announced whether it had decided to send a delegation.
Washington has imposed a blockade on Iran’s trade by sea while Iran has fired on ships to prevent them sailing through the Strait of Hormuz waterway at the entrance to the Middle East Gulf.
The closure of the strait has disrupted supply of a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies, and caused a global energy crisis.
US forces have seized an Iranian cargo ship and an oil tanker in recent days. Iran said it had captured two container ships seeking to exit the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after firing on them and another vessel, its first seizures since the war began.
