Iran said it has “no intention” of engaging in talks with the United States, as the war of words between the two countries intensifies.
During a parliamentary session, Ali Nikzad, deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, claimed the US had “nothing new to offer” in potential talks.
“They must accept that they have no choice but to acknowledge the power of Iran,” said Nikzad. “It is the Americans, not the Iranian nation, who will ultimately surrender in this conflict. [Tehran] has no intention of negotiating on the nuclear issue regardless of any pressure.”
The deputy speaker said that “this great nation has already granted its enemies ample opportunity for negotiations in this arena, but it was met only with repeated breaches of promises and the illegal bombardment of parts of its peaceful nuclear facilities”.
Nikzad’s intervention comes after the Iranian army vowed to respond to any new US attacks with “an immediate, crushing response”.
Earlier on Sunday, the Iranian army’s spokesperson, Mohammad Akraminia, stressed that Iran’s war strategy has shifted from a “purely defensive stance to an offensive approach some time ago”.
“Should a new war erupt, the geography of the conflict will not be confined to the West Asia region,” Akraminia told Iran state media. “Any potential future war could prove significantly longer than past conflicts.”
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has knocked out much of Iran’s military but still had to “take care of” one or two targets.
“We’ve knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, said Trump has not made a decision about fresh strikes on Iran, and that the US would be open to a diplomatic solution.
The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, said it hoped for a breakthrough between Iran and the US while preparing for the worst.
“We’re hoping that there is a diplomatic breakthrough,” diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president Anwar Gargash said during a conference in Manama.
“It is not the interest of the region to go through another round… But I think we’re also, as we’ve shown before, braced for the worst.”
Following a visit to Tehran this week by a Qatari delegation, Iran has dispatched envoys to the Gulf country to continue consultations as part of indirect negotiations with the US to end the war.
Earlier this week, US Senator Chris Murphy described Trump’s plan to restart the war on Iran as “insane” and said it would lead to a “devastating escalation”.
“You’ve heard a preview that it would be a short-duration plan. I’ll just say this: their plan is insane,” Murphy said, speaking at an event organised by the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.
“It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”
Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations committees, made the comments after American media reported that the US warned several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military offensive against Iran after the US midterm elections on 3 November.
The war began on 28 February with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Iran retaliated by targeting, among others, Gulf countries hosting US military bases.
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