Iran accuses US of 'not doing serious diplomacy' after Trump's jibe

Iran's Deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi accused the US of 'not doing serious diplomacy' after President Trump rejected Iran's peace proposal, calling it 'garbage'. Gharibabadi said Iran welcomes mediation and has not attacked its neighbours.

Days after President Donald Trump discarded Iran's peace proposal plan and stated that ceasefire stands on "life support", Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi accused the United States of "not doing serious diplomacy".

In a conversation here, he also maintained that Iran has "not attacked neighbouring countries" and referred to presence of US military bases in the region. "US is not doing serious diplomacy," he said.

'A Piece of Garbage': Trump Discards Peace Plan

President Trump on Monday (local time) discarded Iran's peace proposal plan and said that the ceasefire stands on "life support". Trump said that Iran is the weakest it has been and called Tehran's proposal "a piece of garbage" and unacceptable.

"After reading that piece of garbage they sent us, I didn't even finish reading it. They (Iran) are on life support. The ceasefire is on massive life support." Reiterating his claims that Iran has been defeated militarily, Trump said that whatever little Iran had built up in the period of ceasefire, the US would "knock that out in about a day".

Trump added that the Iranian leadership has been killed at several levels and termed the proposal shared by them "stupid". Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, on Tuesday said that there is no alternative but to accept the 14-point proposal.He called any other approach inconclusive and a failure, stressing that the delay would result in American taxpayers bearing the brunt.

On Strait of Hormuz and Indian Vessels

Gharibabadi told ANI that the Strait of Hormuz situation will be better than before once peace is established. "There will be transparency. There will be no discrepancy. We will not go beyond international law. If peace is established, it will have more safety and security than before," he said.

"We allowed several Indian vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. 11 Indian vessels passed. We are working for some more. This is not the case for any other country," he added.

Iran Welcomes Mediation

On Pakistan's role as mediator in Iran's conflict with US-Israel, Gharibabadi said his country welcomes any initiative. "Earlier, Egypt, Qatar, Oman mediated. Mediator is only facilitating, not negotiating. Pakistan came with initiative, and we welcomed it. India has always supported peace. They are in favour of peace. Whatever role India plays and comes with any initiative, we will welcome."

'Have Not Attacked Neighbouring Countries'

"We have not attacked neighbouring countries. They handed territories to the US. Thousands of times, attacks are launched on Iran from there. We have documented each attack in 500 pages for the UN. We cannot accept that. We don't have sophisticated military equipment. The US and Israel are defeated only by Iranian missiles," he said.

There is a fragile ceasefire after conflict erupted on February 28 with Iran on one side and Israel and US on the other. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)