Tehran: US must drop its ‘excessive demands’

For diplomacy to succeed, the United States must forgo its “excessive demands,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.

“Success in [the diplomatic] path requires seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands,” Iran’s top diplomat said in a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, according to AFP.

After the latest round of indirect Iran-U.S. talks in Geneva on Thursday, Araghchi remarked that “further progress” has been made regarding his country’s nuclear program.

Negotiations “concluded with the mutual understanding that we will continue to engage in a more detailed manner on matters that are essential to any deal—including sanctions termination and nuclear-related steps,” he said in a statement on X.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, whose country is mediating between Tehran and Washington, described the progress in talks as “significant,” adding that negotiations “on a technical level” will resume next week in Vienna.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a wide gap still exists between the sides on key issues.

The report said that U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are insisting that Iran destroy its three main nuclear sites, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, place permanent restrictions on its nuclear program and deliver its remaining enriched uranium to the U.S.

The Iranian delegation has reportedly rejected all demands.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday rejected claims that war with Iran, if it were to break out, would lead to a prolonged campaign.

“The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight—there is no chance that will happen,” he told The Washington Post.

“I think we all prefer the diplomatic option,” Vance said. “But it really depends on what the Iranians do and what they say.”

Addressing concerns that war with the Islamic Republic could be a repeat of America’s almost decade-long presence in Iraq, coupled with Vance’s own past criticism of the Iraq War, the vice president said that “life has all kinds of crazy twists and turns. … I do think we have to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. I also think that we have to avoid overlearning the lessons of the past. Just because one president screwed up a military conflict doesn’t mean we can never engage in military conflict again. We’ve got to be careful about it, but I think the president is being careful.”

Also on Thursday, Iran’s armed forces spokesman boasted, “If Washington understood the real capabilities of Iran’s armed forces, it would never speak of war,” Iran International, a U.K.-based opposition outlet, reported.

Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi continued, “In the event of any conflict, American soldiers and their equipment would be destroyed. … The presence of the United States military in the region is part of psychological warfare and bullying.”