Pezeshkian says nuclear talks have preceded strikes, not stopped them
The remarks come as Washington reinforces forces near the Strait of Hormuz and tanker traffic through it has nearly stopped.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says that every time inspectors have entered Iran, nuclear facilities and scientists have been identified, and that those facilities were later bombed and the scientists assassinated. He says Iran's problem with the United States is that negotiation itself has brought war, not peace, noting that the US has attacked Iran three times after talks.
The comments follow a cabinet meeting led by Vice President JD Vance on Friday, as the US reinforces its forces near the Strait of Hormuz. That meeting came days after President Trump rejected a ceasefire offer and after a tanker strike Iran blames on UAE-linked vessels. A US official says Washington is preparing for renewed fighting with Iran, according to N12, following the collapse of a mediated deal over the strait. UKMTO has recorded seven vessel strikes near the strait since September 28, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned ships against using the US-backed transit route. Tanker traffic through the strait is now running near two vessels a day, against a pre-conflict average of 125.
Bloomberg estimates no crude left Iran by tanker in September. Iran's inflation is nearing 90% and the rial has fallen 25% in two months, Bloomberg reports. Brent crude has traded above $100 a barrel through the standoff, a level that has weighed on Asian markets, with MSCI's Asia-Pacific gauge slipping 0.4% and Japan's Topix dropping 0.9%.
Pezeshkian's framing, that inspections and talks have preceded strikes rather than prevented them, hardens Tehran's distrust just as Iran has separately voiced openness to inspections and revived a ceasefire framework. It cuts against the technical-phase optimism seen earlier in the cycle and reinforces a standoff in which Iran demands relief from the blockade and from pressure on Hormuz before any nuclear talks begin. By casting negotiation itself as the trigger for military action, the remarks make Tehran's cooperation with any US-brokered proposal look less likely, keeping intact the stalemate that has supported elevated crude prices rather than resolving it.