Iranian Foreign Minister denies contacts with Trump envoy: Last before US attack

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (Source: IRNA)

JAKARTA - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his last contact with President Donald Trump's Special Envoy was before the joint attack by the United States and Israel.

That was revealed by Foreign Minister Araghchi in a post on social media, responding to reports of contact with Steve Witkoff.

"My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was before his employer decided to end diplomatic efforts by launching another illegal military attack against Iran," Foreign Minister Araghchi tweeted on the social media X, as quoted (17/3).

"Any statement to the contrary seems to be solely aimed at misleading oil traders and the general public," he said.

My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was prior to his employer's decision to kill diplomacy with another illegal military attack on Iran.

Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public.

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 16, 2026

It is known that tensions have increased in the Middle East, following the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28, which according to Tehran killed more than 1,300 people, including Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader, and more than 150 students.

Since then, Iran has launched drone and missile attacks targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states hosting US military assets.

Tehran has also effectively tightened the Strait of Hormuz since March 1. This narrow waterway transports around 20 million barrels of oil per day and about 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas trade.

Yesterday, Axios reported that direct communication channels between Witkoff and Foreign Minister Araghchi had been reactivated in recent days, citing a US official and a source familiar with the matter, as reported by Al Arabiya.

It was not clear how substantive the exchange between the two was, but it marked the first known direct communication between the two sides since the war began more than two weeks ago, the report said.

Foreign Minister Araghchi sent a text message to Witkoff focusing on ending the war, Axios reported, citing US officials and the source.

At the same time, US officials told Axios that Washington was "not talking" to Tehran.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Monday said Iran wants to make a deal and claimed they are "talking to our people."

However, he said the United States did not know the new Iranian leadership. "All their leaders have died. We don't even know who we are dealing with," he said.

On the other hand, Iranian officials have publicly claimed in recent days that they are not involved in any ceasefire negotiations with the Trump administration.

They said Iran was not interested in a temporary truce that would allow the US and Israel to regroup and launch new attacks, but instead wanted assurances any peace deal would be permanent.