Ruptly
"Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei suggested the Americans were 'not serious' about talks, speaking on Iranian television on Friday. "By now, it is clear that they are not serious, even about lifting sanctions. Look: you cannot claim you will lift all sanctions while you are actually intensifying them. Worse still, you commit acts of maritime piracy," he said. "Our negotiations with America are not conventional or ordinary negotiations," he told the programme. "It is a negotiation with a very bloody history. I can no longer even say that there is a wall of distrust." "When it comes to Iran and America, the question of trust cannot even be raised. We must speak of deep suspicion and strong distrust, because in the last year and a half alone, on two separate occasions during negotiations, after we had reached an agreement to continue the negotiations, they committed such crimes. This is unprecedented," he added. On the talks themselves, he said that there were "many countries that want to help, with various intentions, and many of them have positive intentions, but the official mediator of the talks will still be Pakistan." It came amid reports from Iranian media that Tehran had submitted its latest response to US revisions of a potential deal, via Pakistani intermediaries. Talks had appeared to stall after the first round last month, with Donald Trump extending the initial ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz remains a key issue, with both sides instigating blockades. On Thursday, Trump claimed Iran was 'dying to make a deal' as he spoke with reporters on Thursday. "I don't call it a war. I'd rather have a military operation. We're really... I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal," he said. "They want to make a deal badly. We have a problem because nobody knows for sure who the leaders are. It's a little bit of a problem, you know. The leaders have been wiped out along with their military, almost all of their military," he added. Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei released a statement promising a 'new chapter' for the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. "Today, with two months having passed since the largest military campaign and aggression by the world’s bullies in the region, and the United States’ humiliating defeat in its own scheme, a new chapter is being written for the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," it read. "
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