Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said that "rational negotiations" with the United States were not impossible because of Iran's religious beliefs, but because of Washington's negotiating behaviour, which he described as amounting to "little more than one-sided dictation rather than genuine diplomacy," Pakistan TV reported, quoting his post on X published early on Thursday.

"Faith does not preclude 'rationality', just as secularism does not guarantee wisdom," Baqaei said. "Stop making ideologically driven assumptions about Iranians' religious beliefs and start understanding Iran's strategic interests and legitimate security concerns," he added, saying the United States "cannot demand concessions while refusing reciprocity, dictate terms while ignoring the other side's legitimate interests, and expect a lasting agreement," and should instead address its "own record of broken promises."

Baqaei was responding to comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this week. Rubio said doing a deal with Iran was not easy and that Tehran was governed by radical clerics who "make policy decisions on the basis of pure theology," according to Pakistan TV's summary of his remarks; in a separate interview in Mumbai on Tuesday, Rubio also accused Iran of using "Nazi U-boat tactics" against commercial shipping, Eastora News reported, relaying his Network18 interview.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was prepared to give diplomacy another chance if it saw strong evidence of a sincere desire by the United States to build trust and reach a just solution, Pakistan TV reported. "But if US chooses war over diplomacy, it'll certainly result in an even greater strategic failure," Araghchi said in a post on X. No new agreement was announced by either side, and indirect contacts have previously been reported as continuing through Pakistan and Qatar.