Connect with us

RSS

Iran Wants Indirect Talks With US, Warns Regional Countries Over Strikes Against It

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, March 21, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran is pushing back against US demands that it directly negotiate over its nuclear program or be bombed, warning neighbors that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if involved, a senior Iranian official said.

Although Iran has rejected US President Donald Trump’s demand for direct talks, it wants to continue indirect negotiations through Oman, a longtime channel for messages between the rival states, said the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“Indirect talks offer a chance to evaluate Washington’s seriousness about a political solution with Iran,” said the official.

Although that path could be “rocky,” such talks could begin soon if US messaging supported it, the official said.

Iran has issued notices to Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey and Bahrain that any support for a US attack on Iran, including the use of their air space or territory by US military during an attack, would be considered an act of hostility, the official said.

Such an act “will have severe consequences for them”, the official said, adding that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had placed Iran’s armed forces on high alert.

Warnings by Trump of military action against Iran have jangled already tense nerves across the region after open warfare in Gaza and Lebanon, military strikes on Yemen, a change of leadership in Syria and Israeli-Iranian exchanges of fire.

Worries of a wider regional conflagration have unsettled states around the Gulf, a body of water bordered on one side by Iran and on the other by US-allied Arab monarchies that carries a significant proportion of global oil supplies.

Spokespeople for the governments of Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of a warning but that such messages could be conveyed by other channels.

On Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that Kuwait had reassured Iran that it would not accept any aggressive action being directed at other countries from its soil.

Iran’s ally Russia said on Thursday that US threats of military strikes against the Islamic Republic were unacceptable and on Friday called for restraint.

Iran is trying to gain more support from Russia, but is skeptical about Moscow’s commitment to its ally, said a second Iranian official. This “depends on the dynamics” of the relationship between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official said.

TWO-MONTH WINDOW

Trump has said he would prefer a deal over Iran’s nuclear program to a military confrontation and he said on March 7 he had written to Khamenei to suggest talks.

The first Iranian official said a first round of indirect talks could involve Omani mediators shuttling between the Iranian and US delegations. Khamenei has authorized Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi or his deputy, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, to attend any talks in Muscat.

Oman’s government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, the official believed there was a window of around two months to agree a deal, citing worries that Iran’s long-time foe Israel might launch its own attack if talks took longer, and that it could trigger a so-called “snap back” of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Iran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog has warned.

Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs.

While Iran has said it will consider talks with the US if the aim was to address concerns over its program, it has rejected holding any direct negotiations when the US is making threats and has said its missile program would be off limits.

A senior Iranian military commander, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Amirali Hajizadeh, had implied on Monday that US bases in the region could be targeted in any conflict.

In 2020, Iran targeted US bases in Iraq after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC’s Quds Force, in a US missile strike in Baghdad.

The post Iran Wants Indirect Talks With US, Warns Regional Countries Over Strikes Against It first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.

Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.

Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.

The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.

The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.

Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.

Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.

Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.

Continue Reading

RSS

Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases

US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect

i24 NewsUS President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.

“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.

“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”

Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”

Continue Reading

RSS

Netanyahu Says Getting Rid of Hamas Chiefs in Qatar Would Remove Main Obstacle to Gaza Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax, in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.

Israel on Tuesday targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News