Guterres tells Pezeshkian Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons — Tehran “no longer trusts” the U.S.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that, to his knowledge, Iran is not seeking to build nuclear weapons, Iranian media reported Friday. The meeting took place at UN headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly, where Pezeshkian also signed the organization’s visitors’ book.

According to the same report, Pezeshkian told Guterres that claims Iran is seeking nuclear weapons are “illusions and fabricated narratives.” “Iran’s goal is to gain peaceful nuclear knowledge and technology and benefit from it, not to produce weapons,” the Iranian president was quoted as saying.

Pezeshkian added that Tehran has not walked away from negotiations, but no longer trusts the United States after Washington launched “aggressive strikes” on Iran earlier this year. The remarks come a day after the Iranian president told Fox News that Iran is ready to submit its nuclear program to international inspections.

Guterres, for his part, said he plans to ask countries in the region to support the diplomatic process during his trip to Qatar. The meeting took place at a critical moment, as U.S. and Iranian delegations consider a phased deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S. blockade — as Al Jazeera reported.