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Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities maintain that the United States and its allies are set on a forceful approach over the country’s nuclear programme, so negotiations appear far off.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has left no room for talks by repeatedly presenting “maximalist demands”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday at a news conference in Tehran.

“The current approach of the US government in no way shows readiness for an equal and fair negotiation to secure mutual interests,” he said on the sidelines of the state-organised Tehran Dialogue Forum, which diplomats and envoys from across the region attended.

Iranian officials said they have been receiving messages from neighbouring countries that are trying to mediate and keep the peace. A letter from Araghchi was also delivered to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Sunday that deals with Iran, the ceasefire in Gaza and other issues, according to Iranian media.

Araghchi said communication channels remain open with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well. Iran’s envoy to Vienna, where the nuclear watchdog is based, was joined on Friday by counterparts from China and Russia in a meeting with the representatives of the United Nations agency.

“There’s no enrichment right now because our nuclear enrichment facilities have been attacked,” the foreign minister said at the news conference. “Our message is clear: Iran’s right for peaceful use of nuclear energy, including enrichment, is undeniable, and we will continue to exercise it.”

Last week, the latest IAEA confidential report on Iran’s nuclear programme was leaked to Western media, which reported that the UN agency has not been able to verify Iran’s stockpile of 60 percent-enriched uranium since its facilities were bombed and severely damaged by the US and Israel in June.

The IAEA said it needed “long overdue” inspections of seven of the sites targeted during the war, including Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

Iran has granted the IAEA access to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Tehran Research Reactor but has said security and safety conditions have not been met for inspections at other facilities as the high-enriched uranium stays buried.

Another resolution?

Iranian officials signalled over the weekend that three European powers – France, the United Kingdom and Germany – which were part of the country’s now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, may be mobilising to introduce another Iran-focused resolution to the IAEA’s board.

Iran responded to several previous censure resolutions with escalations in uranium enrichment, and Israel launched its June attacks on Iran a day after the IAEA passed a European-tabled resolution that found Tehran noncompliant with its nuclear safeguards commitments.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Sunday, the deputy for international and legal affairs in Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, said Iran “reserves the right to reconsider its approaches” if a new resolution moves through.

He said the three European countries’ effort was a US-backed move to reinstate UN sanctions against Iran despite strong opposition from China and Russia last month and it “eliminated them from the field of dialogue and diplomacy with Iran”.

“Another resolution will bear no additional pressure on Iran, but the message it will send shows that collaboration and coordination are not important to them,” Gharibabadi said.

Iran’s nuclear programme chief, Mohammad Eslami, also slammed the West and the IAEA, telling reporters on Sunday that the UN agency is being used for political purposes, which “enforces double standards and a law of the jungle that must be stopped”.

“The attacks on Iran’s facilities were unprecedented. It was the first time that nuclear facilities under agency supervision were attacked, which meant a violation of international law, but the IAEA did not condemn the attacks,” Eslami said.

Iran’s military commanders continue to signal defiance as well. Defence Minister Amir Hatami told a meeting of lawmakers on Sunday that armed forces have been “sparing no moment in improving defence capabilities” after the 12-day war with Israel.

Tensions remain high in the region after the war with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday confirming that it seized a Cyprus-registered tanker that transited through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says Israeli soldiers have shot at its peacekeepers in their latest targeting of UNIFIL as Israel continues to attack Lebanon on a near-daily basis in violation of a yearlong ceasefire in its war against Hezbollah.

Israeli forces on Sunday “fired on UNIFIL peacekeepers from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory”, the peacekeepers said in a statement, adding heavy-machinegun rounds hit about 5 metres (5.5 yards) from their personnel.

UNIFIL said the peacekeepers were able to leave safely 30 minutes later after the tank withdrew inside the Israeli position.

Israel said its soldiers who fired at UNIFIL did so due to “poor weather conditions” and mistook the UN patrol for “suspects”.

The Lebanese army also issued a statement: “The army command affirms that it is working in coordination with friendly countries to put an end to the ongoing violations and breaches by the Israeli enemy, which require immediate action as they represent a dangerous escalation.”

In September, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades close to its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon with one landing within 20 metres (22 yards) of UN personnel and vehicles.

UNIFIL said the shooting “represents a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701”, which ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and also formed the basis of the November 2024 truce.

“Yet again, we call on the [Israeli military] to cease any aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers,” UNIFIL said on Sunday.

UNIFIL has been working with the Lebanese army to maintain the truce between Israel and Hezbollah, which brought an end to intensive hostilities that erupted into full-blown war after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israel killed more than 4,000 people, mostly civilians, in its recent war on Lebanon and displaced more than a million people. It razed dozens of villages and occupied – and still refuses to withdraw from – at least five points on Lebanese territory as stipulated under the deal.

Israel said its strikes on Lebanon target Hezbollah sites and fighters but has not provided any evidence.

An Israeli-built wall inside Lebanon

On Saturday, the National News Agency, the official news agency of the Lebanese government, reported that Lebanon plans to file a complaint with the UN Security Council over Israel’s construction of a concrete wall along its southern border that traverses the “Blue Line”, a 120km (75-mile) unofficial border drawn up by the UN between Lebanon and Israel.

According to the news agency, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun requested the complaint be issued along with recent UN reports confirming the Israeli wall has blocked off about 4,000sq metres (43,055sq ft) of territory to Lebanese people.

The Blue Line’s main purpose is to confirm the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanese territory as mandated by UN Security Council resolutions.

UNIFIL on Friday said the “Israeli presence and construction in Lebanese territory are violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 and of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.