Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed to Al Jazeera that messages had been exchanged with the United States, either directly or through countries in the region.

However, he said that the contacts with the US did not mean that Tehran was in negotiations with Washington.

“I receive messages from [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

“There is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran. All messages are conveyed through the foreign ministry or received by it, and there are communications between security agencies,” he was quoted as saying.

“We do not have any faith that negotiations with the US will yield any results. The trust level is at zero”, he said, adding: “We don’t see honesty.”