Iran’s president confirmed on Tuesday that he had ordered the start of talks with the United States, provided they were free of threats, after his counterpart Donald Trump suggested “bad things” would happen without a deal.
There has been no official confirmation from Iran on where the talks would be held, but an Arab official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP a meeting was likely to take place in Turkey on Friday, following diplomatic interventions by Ankara, as well as Egypt, Oman and Qatar.
The US leader has spoken of potential military action and sent an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East following anti-government protests in Iran that were met with a deadly crackdown last month.
Trump has maintained he is hopeful that Washington will “work something out” with Tehran, but also warned that “bad things would happen” if a deal was not agreed.
Tehran has insisted it wants diplomacy, while promising a decisive response to any aggression.
“I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations,” President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X.
He added that the talks followed requests “from friendly governments”.
On Tuesday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said diplomacy with Iran was “continuing very intensively”, in “tandem with all our neighbours”.
Earlier, a senior official from the UAE said Iran needed to reach a deal and “rebuild their relationship with the United States”.
“I would like to see direct Iranian-American negotiations leading to understandings so that we don’t have these issues every other day,” said presidential adviser Anwar Gargash.
Iran has repeatedly stressed that any talks should remain focused solely on the nuclear issue, rejecting the possibility of negotiations over its missile programme or defence capabilities.
In an interview with CNN broadcast on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had lost trust in Washington as a negotiating partner but a deal on the nuclear issue remained achievable.
“So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons,” he said.
Nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington were abandoned last year after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran in June, triggering a 12-day war.
The Israeli strikes hit nuclear and military facilities, as well as residential areas, killing military commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of others. The US briefly joined the conflict, carrying out strikes on key nuclear sites.
Iran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel, as well as by targeting a US military base in Qatar, its largest in the Middle East.
Since his return to office in January last year, Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran, piling additional pain on a floundering economy.
Protests against the rising cost of living broke out in Tehran in December before evolving into wider nationwide anti-government demonstrations that triggered a deadly crackdown by the authorities.
Protests against the rising cost of living broke out in Tehran in December before evolving into wider nationwide anti-government demonstrations that triggered a deadly crackdown by the authorities.
– Thousands arrested –
Iranian officials have acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths during the unrest, but insist that most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts”.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based NGO, says it has confirmed 6,854 deaths, mostly protesters killed by security forces, with other rights groups warning the figure is likely far higher.
On Tuesday, the NGO said it had counted at least 50,235 arrests linked to the protests, with further detentions ongoing.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the authorities had detained 139 foreign nationals in central parts of the country during the protests.
Iranian authorities have said the “riots” were inflamed by the United States and Israel.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has likened the unrest to a “coup” attempt and warned of a “regional war” if the US attacked his country.
