Iranian Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said Iran welcomed negotiations with the United States but would not accept imposition, in remarks at a meeting with judicial officials, Ettelaat newspaper reported on May 1.

Iran has signalled openness to indirect contacts through Pakistan, Oman and Russia. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on April 27 in talks focused on the state of negotiations with the United States. The US and Iran signed a ceasefire on April 7. Subsequent talks held in Pakistan failed, and Washington imposed a naval blockade on vessels heading to or leaving Iranian ports on April 13.

"We loudly declare that we welcome negotiations but do not accept imposition," Mohseni-Ejei said.

The Islamic Republic had never left the negotiating table and had always welcomed talks based on logic and rationality, the judiciary chief said. Negotiations based on imposition were not acceptable, and the position was one on which the country's senior officials had reached consensus.

An enemy that had achieved none of its objectives through aggression and threats could not impose its will at the negotiating table, Mohseni-Ejei said.

"We do not welcome war but we do not fear war. If our dignity is threatened, we will fight for our dignity," he said.

The judiciary would continue to pursue the legal and judicial dimensions of US and Israeli aggression against Iran and the war crimes committed during the conflict, both domestically and internationally, Mohseni-Ejei said. Iran would prosecute and punish war criminals and seek compensation from them.

Mohseni-Ejei warned that the defeated and wounded enemy would not remain idle and would intensify its plots, with the possibility of renewed aggression remaining. National planning needed to incorporate sustainability and resilience even if no further attacks took place, he said.

The latest official remarks form part of a sustained line from senior Iranian officials including former IRGC Navy commander Hossein Alaei, parliamentary deputy speaker Ali Nikzad and senior political adviser Mohammad Javad Larijani, who have publicly rejected direct talks with Washington while accepting third-party mediation.

The Iranian comments come as US President Donald Trump threatened to worseen the economic blockade on Iranian imports and exports on April 29 via his social media website Truth Social. 

He post: "Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon! President DJT."

A three-stage negotiating framework reported by Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen on April 27 places the end of conflict and guarantees to Iran and Lebanon in the first phase, Oman-mediated talks on the Strait of Hormuz in the second, and discussion of Iran's nuclear programme in the third.