Iran Rejects U.S. Demand for Direct Negotiations

Iran has rejected the United States' demand to begin direct negotiations regarding its nuclear program, insisting instead on mediating talks through Oman. This was reported by Reuters, citing an Iranian senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Iran desires to conduct indirect negotiations through Oman, a long-standing channel for communication between Tehran and Washington. "Indirect negotiations will allow Iran to assess Washington's seriousness regarding a political resolution to Tehran's nuclear program," the official noted.

The path to such negotiations may be complex, but they could begin soon if the U.S. supports it. Additionally, Iran has issued formal warnings to Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, and Bahrain that any support for a potential U.S. attack, including providing land for troop deployments and the use of airspace, will be viewed as hostile actions. "Such actions will have severe consequences for them," the official stated, adding that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has put Iran's armed forces on high alert.

Spokespeople for the governments of Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain have not responded. However, Turkey's Foreign Ministry has stated it is unaware of the warning, though such messages could be conveyed through other channels.

On Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that Kuwait has assured Iran it will not allow any aggressive actions against other countries from its territory. Russia has also stated that U.S. threats to strike the Islamic Republic are unacceptable and called for restraint.

It is noteworthy that Iran rejected President Trump's offer for negotiations regarding its nuclear program, declaring it would only engage through third parties. In response, Trump threatened to bomb Iran. "If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombs. Bombs like they’ve never seen before," he said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Tehran rejected Washington's proposal for direct negotiations in a letter to Trump, insisting that the door to negotiations is open only through third-party mediation. Prior to this, President Trump had mentioned that "bad things could happen to Iran" if its leaders do not come to an agreement with Washington regarding Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

The U.S. president recalled how he had sent a letter to Iranian authorities, stating that decisions must be made one way or another. Trump emphasized that either Washington and Tehran would engage in discussions to address the issues, or very bad things would happen to Iran. "I don’t want that to happen; I would prefer that we reach an agreement with Iran. But if we don’t resolve this, bad, bad things will happen to Iran," Trump concluded.