Iran’s president says previous attacks during negotiations have led to “complete distrust of the United States”

U.S.-Israeli attacks launched previously during negotiations with Iran have led to a complete loss of trust in the United States, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said Thursday, according to Mizan News, the news agency of Iran’s powerful judiciary branch.

In a phone call with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Pezeshkian “stressed that resolving disputes through dialogue and diplomacy has always been Iran’s approach,” according to the report.

“However, during negotiations, the U.S. and the Zionist regime attacked Iran twice, and such actions may be repeated, which has led to Iran’s complete distrust of the United States.”

Both the U.S.-Israeli attacks launched on Feb. 28, and the joint strikes carried out in June 2025, when the Trump administration said it had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, came amid active negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Pezeshkian also said U.S. officials should halt “provocative statements and actions in order to build trust” and “demonstrate seriousness in pursuing negotiations to end the war definitively.”

A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance had been widely expected to fly to Islamabad for a second round of direct talks with Iranian officials last weekend, but President Trump canceled the trip abruptly, saying he didn’t want to waste time and that Iranian officials could call if they wanted to talk.

Mr. Trump has voiced optimism that an ongoing U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports and vessels will bring enough pressure on Iran to force it to accept a peace deal on his terms.