Iran’s overseas minister says missile programme not up for negotiation as Trump says he’s sending extra ships to the area.
Iran’s overseas minister says the nation is prepared for “honest and equitable” talks with america amid hovering tensions, as US President Donald Trump refused to rule out taking army motion in opposition to Tehran.
On a go to to Turkiye on Friday, Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi instructed reporters that, “Iran has no downside with negotiations, however negotiations can’t happen beneath the shadow of threats”.
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“I also needs to state unequivocally that Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities – and Iran’s missiles – won’t ever be the topic of any negotiations,” Araghchi stated throughout a information convention alongside his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.
“The safety of the Iranian individuals is nobody else’s enterprise, and we are going to protect and develop our defensive capabilities to no matter extent is important to defend the nation.”
Tensions have been rising for weeks between Tehran and Washington amid Trump’s repeated threats to assault Iran over a current crackdown on antigovernment protests and his push to curtail the Iranian nuclear programme.
Earlier this week, the US president stated a “huge armada” – led by the USS Abraham Lincoln plane service – was shifting in direction of Iran and was prepared to make use of “violence, if obligatory” if Iranian leaders didn’t agree to barter a nuclear deal.
Talking to reporters on the White Home on Friday, Trump stated his administration was sending “a bigger variety of ships” to Iran.
“And hopefully we’ll make a deal,” he stated. “If we do make a deal, that’s good. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what occurs.”
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett famous that Trump stated he gave Iran a deadline, however “solely Iran is aware of what that deadline is”.
“So he’s left the world in ready, making an attempt to find out what the subsequent steps shall be,” Halkett stated.
Trump, who in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from a earlier deal that noticed Iran conform to curb its nuclear programme in trade for a lifting of worldwide sanctions, has been pressuring Iran to halt all uranium enrichment.
Washington has accused Tehran of in search of a nuclear weapon – a declare Iranian leaders have repeatedly denied.
Amid the most recent tensions, senior officers in Tehran have repeatedly stated they’re open to negotiations, however solely as soon as Trump ends his army threats in opposition to the nation.
Additionally they have confused that Iran’s armed forces are prepared to reply if attacked.
In the meantime, regional allies together with Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have been partaking in diplomatic efforts to attempt to forestall a army confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier on Friday instructed his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a name that Ankara was able to play a “facilitator” function between the 2 sides.
Fidan, the Turkish overseas minister, additionally stated he had lengthy discussions on the problem with US particular envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday and would preserve traces open with Washington.
Talking alongside Araghchi on Friday, Fidan stated US-Iran nuclear negotiations should restart and would pave the way in which to lifting sanctions on Iran.
“We name the events to the negotiating desk” to deal with the problems “one after the other”, he stated.
