As Trump touts diplomacy, Iran notes the U.S. has attacked twice in 9 months in the middle of negotiations

“Everyone must recognize that Iran did not start this war. Iran was attacked while in the middle of a diplomatic process — for the second time within nine months,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaie said Friday in televised remarks as President Trump touted negotiations and said he expected a deal to be reached soon — but warned again that in lieu of a deal, he would order strikes on Iran’s civilian energy infrastructure.

Baqaei said he was stressing the point that the U.S. had twice launched strikes on Iran while engaging in diplomacy – once in June 2025 when it joined Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, and again on Feb. 28 when it launched the ongoing war in conjunction with Israel, “so that the world does not forget that Iran entered the process as a rational and responsible actor, and it was the United States that destroyed the negotiation table on both occasions.”

“Our positions are very clear. Whenever we reach a conclusion, we will communicate it appropriately, because we have confidence and trust in ourselves, we know what we want, and we know which matters are absolutely non-negotiable for us,” Baqaei said.