- Trump confirms US-Iran talks, warns of possible military action.
- The United States deploys warships, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, off the coast of Iran.
- Qatari Prime Minister meets in Tehran to help ease regional tensions.
Iran’s top security official said Saturday that progress had been made in negotiations with the United States, even as the head of the Islamic Republic’s army warned Washington against launching military strikes.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the two sides were talking, while keeping the threat of an attack at the forefront.
Washington deployed warships led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the Iranian coast, after Trump threatened to intervene following Tehran’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
“Contrary to the hype of the artificial media war, the structural arrangements for the negotiations are moving forward,” said Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
He spoke a day after the Kremlin announced he had spoken in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that a broader conflict would harm both Iran and the United States.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and is in no way seeking, war and it firmly believes that war would not be in the interest of Iran, the United States, or the region,” he said in a call with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to the Iranian presidency.
Later on Saturday, Trump confirmed that there was a dialogue between Washington and Tehran.
“(Iran) is talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something, if not we’ll see what happens…we have a big fleet heading there,” he told Fox News.
“They are negotiating,” he added.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said its Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also foreign minister, spoke in Tehran with Larijani on Saturday to try to “defuse tensions in the region.”
Fears of conflict
The arrival of the American flotilla has raised fears of a confrontation with Iran, which has warned that it would retaliate with missile strikes on American bases, ships and allies, notably Israel, in the event of an attack.
Trump said he believed Iran would reach a deal on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs rather than face U.S. military action.
Tehran has said it is ready to engage in nuclear negotiations if its missiles and defense capabilities are not on the agenda.
Iranian army chief Amir Hatami warned the United States and Israel against any attack, saying his forces were “in full defensive and military preparation.”
“If the enemy makes a mistake, it will undoubtedly endanger its own security, that of the region and that of the Zionist regime,” Hatami said, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iranian nuclear technology and expertise “cannot be eliminated,” he added.
Faced with intensifying tensions, Iranian authorities were quick to deny that several incidents that occurred on Saturday were linked to any attack or sabotage.
Among them was an explosion in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, which local firefighters said was caused by a gas leak.
Naval exercise
On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) would conduct “a two-day live-fire naval exercise” in the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit hub for global energy supplies.
CENTCOM warned the IRGC against “dangerous and unprofessional behavior near US forces,” prompting a strong response from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“The US military is now trying to dictate how our powerful armed forces should conduct shooting exercises on their own territory,” he wrote on X.
The United States designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2019, a decision followed on Thursday by the European Union, provoking angry reactions from Tehran.
The United States carried out strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites in June when it briefly joined Israel’s 12-day war against its regional foe.
Nationwide protests against the rising cost of living broke out on December 28, before morphing into a broader anti-government movement that culminated on January 8 and 9 in what authorities called “riots” blamed on the United States and Israel.
“Serve the people”
The official death toll from the authorities stands at 3,117 deaths.
However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had confirmed 6,713 deaths, including 137 children.
On Saturday, Pezeshkian urged his government to heed public grievances and “serve the people.”
Some Iranians at the Kapikoy border crossing separating Iran and Turkey, where just over 100 people crossed on Saturday, said they wanted freedom from Tehran’s religious leaders.
“They were shooting at our backs. We were even targeted through our windows,” Shabnan said, using a pseudonym. “Everyone has lost loved ones, friends, neighbors, acquaintances.”
