Iran Says No Nuclear Talks Unless Israel Ends Airstrikes

Both Iran and Israel launched airstrikes against each other on Friday.

Smoke rises from the building of Iran's state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on June 16, 2025. AP Photo

A top Iranian official said on Friday that there is no room for talks with the United States unless Israel ends its airstrike campaign amid a week-long aerial conflict between the two nations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters, “We are not seeking negotiations with anyone—especially not with the United States—on this matter” as long as the airstrikes continue.

“It is the Americans who are seeking negotiations; they have sent messages multiple times, including very serious ones. But we have explicitly told them that as long as the aggression and attacks continue, there is simply no room for talk of dialogue or diplomacy,” Araghchi said.

He was due to meet European foreign ministers in Geneva for talks, at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program. Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump have said Iran was working to build a nuclear weapon through its program and was close to finishing one

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday through the state-run Tasnim News Agency that “the only way to end the imposed war in the current conditions is ‘unconditional cessation’ of the enemy’s aggression.”

A week into its campaign, Israel said its military struck dozens of targets overnight, including missile production sites, a research facility in Tehran, and military installations in western and central Iran.

Iran struck multiple targets in Israel on Thursday, with one missile damaging a hospital. More than 70 people were injured inside the hospital, according to Israeli officials.

Iran launched a new barrage of missiles at Israel on Friday, causing sirens to go off, the Israel Defense Forces said in a social media post.

Trump has alternated between issuing warnings to Tehran and urging it to resume nuclear talks. This week, he told reporters that “nobody knows what I’m going to do” regarding whether the United States will get directly involved in the aerial conflict.

Earlier in the week, Trump told reporters that he believed that if Iran acquired a nuclear weapon, the regime would use it.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press conference on Thursday that Trump has given himself two weeks to decide on Iran. The country must agree to end its nuclear program and Tehran cannot have possession of a nuclear weapon, the statement said.

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks,” Trump said in a statement that was read aloud by Leavitt during the news conference.

Some of Trump’s allies in Congress, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), have urged Trump to be cautious about engaging in a war with Iran. Some of his other congressional allies, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have pushed for more aggressive moves and have said that Iran has long posed a grave threat to U.S. and Israeli interests.

“The president hears all voices across the country, and he makes decisions based on his instincts. And he has always said diplomacy is his first option,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday, referring to those perspectives.

Reuters contributed to this report.