Iran’s president seeks ‘truthful and equitable negotiations’ with the U.S.

[ad_1] Hearken to this text

Estimated 5 minutes

The audio model of this text is generated by AI-based know-how. Mispronunciations can happen. We're working with our companions to repeatedly evaluation and enhance the outcomes.

Iran's president stated Tuesday he instructed the nation's overseas minister to "pursue truthful and equitable negotiations" with the USA, the primary clear signal from Tehran it needs to attempt to negotiate as tensions stay excessive with Washington after the Mideast nation's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests final month.

The announcement marked a significant flip for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who broadly had warned Iranians for weeks that the turmoil in his nation had gone past his management. It additionally alerts that the president acquired help from Iran's Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for talks that the 86-year-old cleric beforehand had dismissed.

Turkey had been working behind the scenes to make the talks occur there later this week as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling within the area.

International ministers from Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have additionally been invited to attend the talks, in the event that they occur, in keeping with a regional official who spoke on situation of anonymity as they didn't have permission to talk to journalists.

However whether or not Iran and the U.S. can attain an settlement stays to be seen, significantly as President Donald Trump now has included Iran's nuclear program in a listing of calls for from Tehran in any talks. Trump ordered the bombing of three Iranian nuclear websites throughout the 12-day battle Israel launched towards Iran in June 2025.

WATCH | Khamenei warns of 'regional battle': Iran's supreme chief warns of 'regional battle'

Because the U.S. strikes a number of warships inside putting distance of Iran, the nation's supreme chief says an assault would begin a ‘regional battle’ — however President Donald Trump is sustaining his checklist of calls for. [Correction: This video has been edited to remove images from a funeral of Iranian regime figures that were erroneously included in this report.] Writing on X, Pezeshkian stated in English and Farsi that the choice got here after "requests from pleasant governments within the area to answer the proposal by the President of the USA for negotiations."

"I've instructed my Minister of International Affairs, offered {that a} appropriate atmosphere exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue truthful and equitable negotiations, guided by the rules of dignity, prudence, and expediency," he stated.

The U.S. has but to acknowledge the talks will happen. A semi-official information company in Iran on Monday reported — then later deleted with out rationalization — that Pezeshkian had issued such an order to International Minister Abbas Araghchi, who held a number of rounds of talks with Witkoff earlier than the 12-day battle.

Talks to deal with nuclear points Late Monday, the pan-Arab satellite tv for pc channel Al Mayadeen, which is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, aired an interview with Ali Shamkhani, a prime Khamenei adviser on safety.

Shamkhani, who now sits on the nation's Supreme Nationwide Safety Council and who within the Eighties led Iran's navy, wore a naval uniform as he spoke.

He prompt if the talks occurred, they'd be oblique in the beginning, then transferring to direct talks if a deal seemed to be attainable. Direct talks with the U.S. lengthy have been a extremely charged political difficulty inside Iran's theocracy, with reformists like Pezeshkian pushing for them and hard-liners dismissing them.

The talks would solely deal with nuclear points, he added.

WATCH | Iran conducts stay hearth drills amid heightening rigidity with the U.S.: Iran prepares live-fire drill in Strait of Hormuz as U.S. points warning

Iran has introduced it's going to conduct live-fire drills on Sunday and Monday within the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the U.S. army to warn Tehran to not threaten its warships or business site visitors in the important thing waterway. The CBC's Julia Chapman and David Des Roches of Thayer Marshall Institute break down the newest in rising tensions between the 2 nations. Requested about whether or not Russia may take Iran's enriched uranium prefer it did in Tehran's 2015 nuclear cope with world powers, Shamkhani dismissed the thought, saying there was "no cause" to take action. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday stated Russia had "lengthy provided these providers as a doable possibility that may alleviate sure irritants for quite a lot of nations."

"Iran doesn't search nuclear weapons, won't search a nuclear weapon and can by no means stockpile nuclear weapons, however the different aspect should pay a worth in return for this," he stated.

Iran had been enriching uranium as much as 60 per cent purity, a brief, technical step away from weapons-grade ranges. The Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company (IAEA) had stated Iran was the one nation on the earth to counterpoint to that degree that wasn't armed with the bomb.

Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to examine the websites bombed within the June battle.

"The amount of enriched uranium stays unknown, as a result of a part of the stockpile is below rubble, and there's no initiative but to extract it, as this can be very harmful," Shamkhani stated.

Witkoff is anticipated to fulfill Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and different Israeli safety officers on Tuesday, in keeping with a White Home official who was not approved to remark publicly concerning the talks and spoke on situation of anonymity.

Whereas in Israel, Witkoff will meet with the pinnacle of the Mossad intelligence service and the Israeli army's chief of workers, in keeping with one other official who was not approved to talk to the media and spoke on situation of anonymity.

Israel is anticipated to ask that any settlement with Iran embody eradicating enriched uranium from the nation, stopping the enrichment of uranium, limiting the creation of ballistic missiles and ending help for Tehran's proxies.

Nonetheless, Shakhani in his interview rejected giving up uranium enrichment — a significant impediment in earlier talks with the U.S. In November, Araghchi stated Iran was doing no enrichment within the nation due to the U.S. bombing of the nuclear websites.