US secretary of state says he never spoke with Iranian foreign minister

NEW YORK, April 28. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had never had direct contact with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. "I have never spoken to the foreign minister of Iran, as I said, and he rarely has spoken to our people. It’s mostly indirect talks," Rubio said in an interview with the Fox News TV channel. "There’s been some direct communication over the last few weeks with regards to these meetings that have taken place [in Islamabad]. Remember, for a long time there was a prohibition in the Iranian system against speaking directly to Americans," the secretary of state added. "Direct communications with them are very rare and very discreet, and only through one or two people in their system," Rubio said. The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. On April 7, US President Donald Trump declared a two-week ceasefire with Iran. According to the Iranian side, as many as 3,375 people died in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran over 40 days of the war. On April 11, Iran and the US held several rounds of talks in Islamabad, however both sides later reported that they were unable to reach an agreement on a long-term settlement of the conflict due to a number of contradictions. On April 21, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to extend the ceasefire with Iran. Meanwhile, according to the Iranian state television, Tehran does not recognize Washington’s unilateral ceasefire extension and will act as it deems necessary in its interests.