- Iran accuses Israel of sabotaging regional diplomatic efforts.
- Tehran and Washington resumed negotiations in Muscat after months.
- Previous negotiations failed after the Israel-Iran conflict.
TEHRAN: Iran warned on Tuesday of “destructive” influence on diplomacy ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington for talks expected to focus on US negotiations with Tehran.
“Our party in the negotiations is America. It is up to America to decide to act regardless of pressures and destructive influences that harm the region,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
“The Zionist regime has repeatedly shown, as a saboteur, that it opposes any diplomatic process in our region leading to peace.”
Tehran and Washington resumed negotiations on Friday in Muscat, months after previous negotiations collapsed following Israel’s unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June, which sparked a 12-day war.
During the conflict, Israel targeted senior Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists and nuclear sites, as well as residential areas.
The United States then joined the campaign, launching its own strikes on major Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran responded with drone and missile attacks against Israel and by targeting the largest US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar.
“The experience of June was a very bad experience. That is why, taking into account these experiences, we are determined to guarantee Iran’s national interests through diplomacy,” Baqaei said.
He insisted that Iran would remain strictly focused on the nuclear issue in exchange for sanctions relief.
Tehran has repeatedly declared that it rejects any negotiations that go beyond this issue.
On Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli prime minister “believes that any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles.”
The talks followed threats from Washington and the deployment of a US aircraft carrier group to the region after anti-government protests in Iran last month.
Iranian authorities have said the protests, which erupted in late December due to rising costs of living, began as peaceful demonstrations before turning into “riots” involving killings and vandalism, fueled, they say, by the United States and Israel.
