Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on
“In light of requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal for negotiations put forward by US President Donald Trump, I have instructed the Foreign Secretary to pursue fair and impartial negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence and opportunity, provided that an adequate environment exists, free from threats and unreasonable expectations,” Pezeshkian said on X, adding: “Such negotiations will be conducted within the framework of our national interests.”
The United States and Iran are therefore talking to each other again after last year’s failed attempts, the 12-day war with Israel and the American raids on the ayatollahs’ nuclear sites.
Under the threat of Donald Trump, who has strengthened the presence of US forces in the region since the first days of the harsh repression of the protests at the beginning of the year, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has agreed – also thanks to the mediation of Turkey, Qatar and Russia – to send a delegation to sit at the table with the US to start talks on the nuclear dossier. The meeting, according to Axios, will take place on Friday in Istanbul between Tehran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the American envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump’s emissary will in fact be in Israel in the next few hours to discuss the Iranian dossier with Benyamin Netanyahu and the army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, as well as the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. He will then be in the Emirates on Wednesday and Thursday for talks with Russians and Ukrainians, before flying to Türkiye on Friday. Iran has made it known that a “framework” for negotiations will be finalized in the coming days, underlining that “the removal of sanctions is an essential priority” for Tehran. “The countries of the region, involved in the exchange of Iran-United States messages and also in mediation, know that the consequences of the tensions will not be limited to Iran, but will extend to the area”, underlined the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, specifying that he had never received “an ultimatum” from Trump.
The pressure on Iran, however, does not diminish: after the European Union and the United States, the United Kingdom has also announced a new package of sanctions against 10 senior Iranian officials, including the Interior Minister, accused of direct responsibility in the repression of the latest anti-government protests in various cities of the country. Four foreign citizens were also arrested for participating in the demonstrations in Baharestan, a district of the capital: “Four homemade stun grenades, used in the riots in this city, were found by the police in the bag of one of these individuals”, the police reported, without specifying the nationality of the four arrested. Tehran has meanwhile summoned the ambassadors of the EU countries after the 27 included the Revolutionary Guards in the list of terrorist organizations, calling the move “an insult and a strategic mistake” made to please the United States and Israel. And he warned that “there are other options being studied to react.”
A spokesperson for the European Commission declassified the summons as a “diplomatic practice” and rejected “totally” the accusation of “terrorism” made by Iran against the European armies in retaliation for the Pasdaran. Now, in view of the talks on Friday, France also insists that the regime “accept important concessions” as well as a “radical change of attitude” to avoid US raids on its territory. Iran, said Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, must “imperatively” accept the proposal for negotiations by the United States.