Iran Guards Say Military Capabilities ‘Red Lines' in US Talks
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday the country's military capabilities were off limits, ahead of a second round of talks with the United States on its nuclear program.
"National security and defense and military power are among the red lines of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances," Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB.
Iran and the United States will hold another round of talks in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials met in the Omani capital for the highest-level discussions since the 2015 nuclear deal collapsed.
US President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal during his first term, has reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran since returning to office in January.
In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks and warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
Trump addressed reporters on Monday regarding Iran, saying "I'll solve that problem" and "That's almost an easy one".
The US leader also threatened to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and called Iranian authorities "radicals" who should not possess nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied seeking an atomic bomb, insisting its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, especially the provision of energy.
Late Sunday, Iran's official IRNA news agency said the country's regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its "red lines" in the talks.
Tehran supports the "axis of resistance" -- a network of armed groups opposed to Israel, including Yemen's Houthi militias, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Shiite militia groups in Iraq.
On April 12, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for "indirect" talks, according to Iranian officials and media.
The talks were the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of the 2015 accord, formally known is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The accord offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
Both Tehran and Washington, enemies who have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran's 1979 revolution, have called the latest round of negotiations "constructive".
Araghchi's office has said he will travel to Moscow at the end of this week for talks with Russia, a close ally of Iran and party to the 2015 nuclear deal.
Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned any military confrontation would be a "global catastrophe".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
41 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Iran will continue uranium enrichment, says deputy foreign minister
Iran's deputy foreign minister says Tehran will continue its uranium enrichment, adding that 'no one call tell us (Iran) what to do,' according to Tasnim news agency. Developing...
Arab News
42 minutes ago
- Arab News
Japan Prime Minister Ishiba to skip NATO summit, source says
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is planning to cancel his attendance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in the Hague, a source with direct knowledge said on Monday. Broadcaster Fuji Television said Ishiba was canceling the trip because a planned meeting between NATO and a group of four Indo-Pacific nations (IP-4) would likely not take place, and because a meeting with US President Donald Trump was also unlikely. South Korea and Australia, which along with the US and Japan make up the IP-4, have also said their leaders would not attend the NATO summit meeting. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will represent Japan, the source said, declining to be identified because the plan is not public.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Japanese ships transiting through Strait of Hormuz to minimize time in Gulf
Japan's Nippon Yusen and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said on Monday they have instructed their vessels to minimize the time spent in the Gulf as they continue to transit the Strait of Hormuz following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The shipping companies said they are closely monitoring the situation and sharing updates with ships operating in the region. 'We are instructing our vessels to shorten their time in the Persian Gulf whenever possible, depending on their schedules,' a Nippon Yusen spokesperson said. 'We will make decisions on each vessel's passage through the Strait of Hormuz on a flexible basis,' he added. MOL's safety operation supporting center in Tokyo has stepped up 24-hour surveillance, a company spokesperson said. 'We are advising vessels operating in the area to exercise maximum caution and providing them with latest information,' he said, adding that their vessels have also been instructed to minimize the time in the Gulf. President Donald Trump said the US had 'obliterated' Iran's main nuclear sites in strikes over the weekend, joining an Israeli assault in an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself. Iran's Supreme National Security Council must make the final decision on whether to close the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Press TV said on Sunday, after parliament was reported to have backed the measure. Iran has long used the threat of closing the Strait, through which around 20 percent of global oil and gas demand flows, as a way to ward off Western pressure which is now at its peak following the US strikes.
