By The South Asia Times

TEHRAN - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has categorically rejected suggestions that Tehran is seeking a ceasefire with the United States and Israel, dismissing any prospect of negotiations with an administration he accused of bad faith and military aggression during diplomatic talks.

"We are not asking for a ceasefire, and we don't see any reason why we should negotiate with the United States when we negotiated with them twice, and every time, they attacked us in the middle of the negotiations," Araghchi told NBC News in an interview aired Thursday.

The foreign minister's remarks directly contradict claims made by President Donald Trump, who told reporters Wednesday that Iranian officials had been reaching out to Washington seeking a deal.

"They're calling. They're saying, how do we make a deal?" Trump said. "I said, you're being a little bit late, and we want to fight now more than they do".

In a combative interview, Araghchi dismissed the possibility of a US ground invasion as a strategic threat, warning that American forces would face catastrophic losses if they attempted to enter Iranian territory.

"No, we are waiting for them," Araghchi said when asked about the prospect of US ground troops. "Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them".

The foreign minister acknowledged that Iran's military had prepared for "any scenario, any eventuality, any possibility" and expressed confidence in the country's ability to defend itself.

Trump, in his Wednesday remarks, acknowledged Iran's resilience even as he claimed sweeping military victories. "They're tough, and they want to fight," the president told reporters, describing ongoing US and Israeli operations that he said had destroyed significant portions of Iran's military infrastructure.

The president claimed that Iran's navy was "gone," its air force eliminated, and its air defense systems destroyed. "We have the greatest military anywhere in the world," Trump said. "Their navy is gone, 24 ships in three days. That's a lot of ships".

- Warship Sinking: 'A War Crime'

Araghchi also leveled a serious accusation against the United States, describing the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean as a "war crime" under international law.

The IRIS Dena, a destroyer attached to Iran's Southern Fleet, was returning from participation in India's International Fleet Review 2026 multinational naval exercise when it was struck by a US submarine torpedo on Wednesday. The vessel sank approximately 40 kilometers off Sri Lanka's southern coastline.

According to Sri Lankan officials, 80 bodies from the ship have been recovered, while 32 survivors were rescued and hospitalized with serious injuries. Approximately 180 crew members were believed to be aboard based on the ship's documentation.

"It was an unarmed ship," Araghchi told NBC News. "Attacking a ship that is unarmed... I have to say, this is a war crime".

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Khatibzadeh earlier emphasized that the vessel was carrying officers in training and lacked offensive weaponry at the time of the attack.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth celebrated the sinking as historic, calling it "the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two" -- a claim later challenged by fact-checkers who noted the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was torpedoed by a British submarine during the 1982 Falklands War.

Legal experts have raised questions about whether the attack violated the Second Geneva Convention, which requires parties to a conflict to "take all possible measures to search for and collect the shipwrecked, wounded and sick" following naval engagements.

Critics note that the US submarine made no apparent effort to rescue survivors, and Sri Lankan authorities only learned of the sinking after receiving a distress call from the Iranian vessel itself.

Araghchi's rejection of negotiations stems from what he described as repeated betrayals by the Trump administration. Just last week, he was in Geneva discussing a possible deal with individuals linked to Trump, including envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Those discussions, he said, were interrupted by military escalation.

"We negotiated twice last year and this year, and then in the middle of negotiations, they attacked us," Araghchi said. "So we see no reason why we should engage once again with those who are not honest in negotiation and do not enter into negotiation in good faith".

The diplomatic exchange comes as the conflict enters its sixth day, with US and Israeli airstrikes continuing across Iranian territory and Iranian retaliatory strikes reported in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE.