ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Tehran has come to the conclusion that the US’ engagement in nuclear talks with Iran was merely “a cover” for Israel’s large-scale attack, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News's Andrea Mitchell on Friday, Araghchi said that "if they want diplomacy, we were in the middle of diplomacy," referring to the five rounds of Oman-mediated nuclear talks between Iran and the US prior to an extensive aerial campaign launched against Iran by Israel.

"We have come to the conclusion that negotiations by the US was, in fact, a cover for what the Israelis did," Iran's top diplomat continued.

Israel on June 13 targeted Iran's nuclear facilities and scores of top Iranian officials in an large-scale military operation, prompting retaliatory missile strikes by Iran and a dramatic regional escalation. The two countries have continued to trade fire ever since, leaving hundreds dead and thousands more injured.

Araghchi went on to say that "we don't know how we can trust them anymore," describing the military offensive amid their negotiations with Washington for a nuclear deal as "a betrayal to diplomacy."

Despite US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that the attacks were a "unilateral" Israeli decision and denying that the US had any involvement in the strikes, the United States has been helping Israel in intercepting Iranian missiles en route toward Israel.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed that he will make a final decision on whether or not his country will get directly involved in the conflict within the next two weeks, "based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future," Trump said in a message delivered by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again... once the aggression is stopped," Araghchi said on Friday after a meeting with European powers in Geneva.