The foreign minister said regional powers were “much more effective” than European countries.
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Published February 15, 2026
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragushi has derided the Munich Security Conference as a “circus” and accused it of making European countries’ efforts to revive nuclear negotiations with the United States “paralyzed and irrelevant.”
Iranian officials were not invited to the annual security conference in the German city, and Iran’s top diplomat made the remarks in an X post Sunday, two days before Iranian and U.S. officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland.
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“It is sad to see the normally serious Munich Security Conference turn into a ‘Munich circus’ when it comes to Iran,” Aragushi wrote to X. “The paralysis and irrelevance of the EU/E3 is reflected in the dynamics surrounding the current negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. …Europe, once an important dialogue partner, is now nowhere to be found. In its place are our friends in the region.” [the Gulf] Much more effective and useful than the empty-handed peripheral E3. ”
The E3, which includes France, Britain and Germany, was a key player in the previous round of nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran. That process culminated in 2015 with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a landmark agreement aimed at limiting the scope of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
The United States, under the first administration of Donald Trump, withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and tightened sanctions against Iran. Since then, the process has stalled significantly. Still, E3 maintained its role as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington.
However, since negotiations resumed last year, Gulf states such as Oman and Qatar have taken the lead in facilitating negotiations between the United States and Iran.
Abbas Asrani, a senior fellow at the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies, said Aragushi’s comments “signal a policy shift on the Iranian side that the E3 mechanism…is no longer an effective means of resolution.” “This nuclear mediation has moved from Europe to the region, and the heavy lifting of diplomacy is now being done by regional actors.”
Oman is scheduled to host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva on Tuesday, following indirect negotiations in Muscat on February 6. Those meetings were attended by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
U.S. and Iranian officials held several talks in the Omani capital last year to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. However, this process was halted when Israel began a 12-day war with Iran in June, and the United States briefly joined the war by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities.
The new round of negotiations comes as tensions in the region remain high as President Trump moves more US military assets to the Middle East. On Friday, President Trump said he would send a second aircraft carrier to the region, while openly talking about replacing Iran’s government.
Despite the new push for diplomacy, both countries maintain their positions. Iran has shown flexibility in talks over its nuclear program, but the United States wants to expand the talks to include Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for regional armed groups, two issues Tehran says are non-negotiable.
