Abbas Araghchi | Iran’s man at the table

“It was the U.S. which betrayed diplomacy, but it is Iran which must return to the table!” questioned Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi in his address to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Istanbul on June 22, immediately after the U.S. bombed Iran’s three nuclear facilities — Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. Set against Israel and the U.S., his job was to tell the Islamic world how Iran was betrayed by the same powers with whom it was talking.

A former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mr. Araghchi rose through the ranks of Tehran’s foreign affairs between 1988 and 2013. Joining the IRGC during the 1979 resolution, Mr. Araghchi was reportedly chosen to be a part of the ‘Quds Force’, the IRGC’s external affairs branch.

While Mr. Araghchi has denied his role in the Quds Force, he was inducted into Iran’s Foreign Ministry as an expert in international affairs in 1989. He had served as Iran’s Ambassador in Finland, Estonia and Japan, before he was made the official spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry.

In 2013, Mr. Araghchi was made Iran’s chief negotiator to hold talks with the ‘P5+1’ group (the U.S., China, France, Russia, the U.K and Germany) on its nuclear programme. After 20 months of talks, Mr. Araghchi was successful in getting all parties to agree to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was signed in 2015.

Iran was given relief in economic sanctions and was allowed to have a limited nuclear programme under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The U.S., however, unilaterally pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018 under Donald Trump.

Israel offensive

After the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, Iran’s then Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian asserted that Tehran had no prior knowledge of the attack. Israel expanded the conflict by attacking Iran’s ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and killing IRGC commanders in Syria. Houthis, Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, attacked tankers in the Red Sea. In April 2024, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Tehran launched ballistic missiles at Israel. On May 19, 2024, a helicopter carrying Amir-Abdollahian and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed near the Iran-Azerbaijan border and Mr. Araghchi was chosen as the country’s top diplomat in the Masoud Pezeshkian government. As Israeli airstrikes killed more Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, Iran launched its second direct attack on Israel in October that year, warning Israel to end its attack across its borders. Israel retaliated with air strikes.

After Donald Trump returned to the White House, the U.S. offered dialogue to Iran, which Tehran accepted. On April 13, 2025, Mr. Araghchi held the first round of talks with Trump officials in Oman over the nuclear programme. “It was a constructive meeting held in a very peaceful and respectful environment,” opined Mr. Araghchi. They met five times. On June 13, two days ahead of the sixth round of talks, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, scientists and military leaders. On June 22, the U.S. joined Israel’s war. Mr. Trump later claimed that U.S. strikes ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear programme. He also announced a ceasefire on Israel and Iran, after an Iranian attack at the American base in Qatar on June 23.

“Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged,” said Mr. Araghchi, accusing the U.S. of ‘attacking the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of a UN member state’.

Leaked U.S. Intelligence reports suggest that the U.S.-Israeli attack set back Iran’s nuclear programme by a few months. Despite Mr. Trump’s claims that talks with Iran would resume, Mr. Araghchi stated that Iran has no plan to meet with the U.S. over a nuclear deal, adding, “we know our worth, value our independence, and never allow anyone else to decide our destiny”. As Iran recovers from the war, the challenge before Mr. Araghchi is to strengthen ties with the allies and manage ties with the rivals in a such a way that further external aggression would be prevented at least in the near future.