Iran’s foreign minister says the missile programme is not up for negotiation as Trump says he is sending more ships to the region.
Iran’s foreign minister says his country is ready.
Iran’s foreign minister says his country is ready for “fair and equitable” talks with the United States amid rising tensions as US President Donald Trump refuses to take military action against Tehran.
During his visit to Turkey on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists, ‘Iran has no problem with talks, but talks cannot be held under the shadow of threats.’
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“I must also say clearly that Iran’s defensive and missile capabilities – and Iran’s missiles – will never be the subject of any negotiations,” Araghchi said during a news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.
“The security of the Iranian people is no one else’s job, and we will preserve and expand our defensive capabilities to whatever extent necessary to protect the country.”
Tensions have been rising between Tehran and Washington for weeks amid Trump’s repeated threats to attack Iran over its recent crackdown on anti-government protests and his pressure to curtail Iran’s nuclear programme.
Earlier this week, US President Said A “vast armada”—led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier—was headed toward Iran and prepared to use “violence if necessary” if Iranian leaders did not agree to negotiate a nuclear deal.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said his administration was sending “a large number of ships” to Iran.
“And hopefully we will get a deal done,” he said. “If we make a deal, that’s beneficial. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens.”
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said Trump said he gave Iran a deadline, but “only Iran knows what that deadline is”.
“So he’s leaving the world waiting and trying to figure out what the next step is,” Halkett said.
Trump, who in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from a previous agreement in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, is pressuring Iran to halt all uranium enrichment.
Washington has accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons – a claim Iranian leaders have repeatedly denied.
Amid the latest tensions, senior Tehran officials have repeatedly said they are ready for talks, but only if Trump ends his military threats against the country.
He also stressed that Iran’s armed forces are ready to respond if attacked.
Meanwhile, regional allies, including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, are engaging in diplomatic efforts to try to prevent a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian in a call on Friday that Ankara was ready to play the role of “facilitator” between the two sides.
Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan also said he had a long discussion on the issue with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday and would keep in contact with Washington.
Speaking alongside Araghchi on Friday, Fidan said US-Iran nuclear talks should resume and would pave the way for lifting sanctions on Iran.
“We call the parties to the negotiating table to resolve the issues “one by one,” he said.
