Tehran says diplomacy is \u201cprogressing\u201d despite heated tensions with Washington<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has said he will not share his plans for dealing with Iran, even with America\u2019s closest allies in the region. However, despite Washington ramping up military pressure on Tehran, both sides have indicated that diplomatic backchannels remain open.
\nIn recent weeks, the US has dispatched what Trump has described as a \u201cmassive\u201d and \u201cbeautiful armada\u201d to the region, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in order to pressure Tehran into accepting his demands for a new nuclear deal.
\nAsked in an interview with Fox News on Saturday whether he had informed Washington\u2019s Persian Gulf allies about possible US military action, Trump\u00a0noted that revealing details could undermine the prospect of a peaceful resolution.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Key allies deny airspace to Trump\u2019s \u2018beautiful armada\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we can\u2019t tell them the plan. If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as telling you the plan \u2013 it could be worse, actually,\u201d\u00a0Trump said. \u201cBut look, the plan is that [Iran is] talking to us, and we\u2019ll see if we can do something; otherwise, we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d
\nTehran has also signaled that talks with Washington may still be possible. The head of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, who held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin the previous day, said that progress was being made toward negotiations.
\n\u201cContrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing,\u201d Larijani said.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Putin meets with top Iranian security chief<\/p>\n
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has sought to strike a dual tone of warning and restraint, saying Tehran was not seeking a conflict with the United States and arguing that war would benefit neither side.
\n\u201cThe Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war, and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region,\u201d Pezeshkian said.
\nTrump has repeatedly said he prefers a diplomatic outcome but has warned that any future attack on Iran would be \u201cfar worse\u201d than previous strikes. Media reports cite administration sources as saying Trump is considering options ranging from strikes on Iranian security forces and nuclear sites to targeting officials, with the aim of reigniting anti-government protests.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Trump\u2019s \u2018armada\u2019 issues warning to Tehran<\/p>\n
Tehran has framed the unrest\u00a0\u2013\u00a0which began over economic grievances in late December and escalated into deadly riots\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as a foreign-backed insurrection, alleging that external agents had armed rioters to provoke a harsh state response and justify American intervention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran says diplomacy is \u201cprogressing\u201d despite heated tensions with Washington US President Donald Trump has said he will not share his plans for dealing with Iran, even with America\u2019s closest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t