Won’t budge over defence capabilities: Iran on N-talks

Iran is prepared for the resumption of talks with the United States, but they should be fair and not include Iran’s defence capabilities, Iran’s chief diplomat said on Friday, as regional powers work to prevent military conflict between the two foes.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he planned to speak with Iran, even as the US sent another warship to West Asia and the Pentagon chief said the military would be ready to carry out whatever the president decided. A US Navy destroyer has docked at the Israeli port of Eilat, an Israeli news outlet reported.

One of the main demands by the US to resume talks with Iran is curbing its missile programme, a senior Iranian official said last week. Iran rejects that demand.

“If negotiations are fair and equitable, Iran is ready to participate in such talks,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Istanbul.

Araqchi said no talks between Tehran and Washington were currently arranged. In response to US threats of military action, Araqchi said Tehran was ready for either negotiations or warfare.

In an earlier development, European Union foreign ministers agreed to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, placing the powerful military force in the same category as Islamic State and al Qaeda, in what marks a symbolic shift in Europe’s stance on Iran’s leadership.