Tehran, Karafarinane Eghtesad – Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has reiterated that Iran has no intention to negotiate in public, after his keynote speech at a nuclear policy conference in Washington was canceled following the organizers’ decision to change the format to a debate.

In a post on his X account on Tuesday, Araqchi published the text of the speech he planned to deliver at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference on Monday.

“As I underscore in my prepared remarks, Iran has no intention to negotiate in public,” he wrote.

“My address also makes clear that certain Special Interest groups are laboring to manipulate the course of diplomacy by smearing negotiators and goading the U.S. administration into making maximalist demands.”

He further clarified that although he is used to tough questions from journalists and ordinary citizens, turning “my keynote address into an open Q&A would either turn the event into a public negotiation, which I am not willing to countenance.”

He also expressed regret that the host was neither cognizant nor considerate of such sensitive dynamics.

On Monday, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations confirmed the cancelation of Araqchi’s speech, saying it came after the conference organizers decided to change the format of the speech to a debate. 

The full text of Araqchi's intended speech, originally scheduled to be delivered at the event, was published on X by Iran's mission to the United Nations.

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