The Iranian government is willing to negotiate with the United States in order to prevent this, but the Islamic Republic demands that a series of prerequisites be met, the first of which is that threats against Iran cease. “We are ready to negotiate, but also for war,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, warning that his country is “better prepared” than in June — when it was attacked by Israel and the United States — for a confrontation.
Araghchi made these statements in Istanbul where he went to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, and in an attempt to stop the US war escalation. Türkiye is, in fact, leading mediation attempts to avoid confrontation. “We do not support an attack on Iran. We did not accept it in June, and we are not going to accept it now,” Fidan said after the meeting with Araghchi: “We do not believe that the military solution is going to be fruitful. Let us remember what happened in Gaza. So while we try to heal the wounds of the past, let us not inflict other wounds on our region.”
After a telephone conversation with Trump on Monday, Erdogan spoke with Iranian President Masud Pezeshkián on Friday morning to propose a three-way conference call in which to discuss the differences between the United States and Iran. In addition, the Turkish president intends to lay the foundations for a new negotiation, which would be the first contact between Washington and Tehran in more than a decade. “The success of any diplomatic initiative depends on the good will of the parties and the abandonment of the belligerent and threatening attitude.” [de Washington]”, the Iranian president told his Turkish counterpart, according to a statement from Pezeshkián’s office.
Iranian military leaders have also warned that they will respond to any US action with similar attacks on both naval forces deployed in the region and US bases, which are “within range” of their missiles.
“We are more prepared than we were in June. Then we responded to the belligerent forces and we will do the same now. If the United States gets directly involved, then the situation will be different from previous hostilities. And unfortunately, this time the conflict can spread throughout the region,” Araghchi said in Istanbul, echoing what is the official message of the Iranian regime.
A day before the meeting, the head of Turkish diplomacy had acknowledged in an interview with Al Jazeera that Washington’s demands on Tehran could be “humiliating” and “difficult to explain to its leadership” and that his country is working to make them more “tolerable.” According to several Turkish media, these demands on Iran are: put an end to the Iranian nuclear program by renouncing , as well as sending the highly enriched uranium that remains in its possession to a third country; get rid of longer-range ballistic missiles so that they cannot threaten Israel and cease support for armed groups in the region such as the Houthis and Hezbollah.
Araghchi said his country is willing to talk about the nuclear program, but made clear that “Iran’s missiles and defense program will never be an issue for negotiation.” And, although he expressed his willingness to meet with representatives of the United States, he assured that “all the requirements are not yet met” for this.
The Turkish Foreign Minister illustrated with his statements how far apart the positions of both sides still are: “There are certain limits, certain instructions that bind him, but he is trying to do the best. Something similar is also happening on the American side and we have to take this into account to find a middle point, a common denominator, so that we avoid danger for our region.”
