Iran says it is open to talks with US amid protest crackdown | Iran

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Iran was willing to negotiate with the United States on a basis of respect over its nuclear program, but did not comment on Donald Trump’s claims that Iran had arranged a meeting with the United States.

The US president, who has threatened to intervene in Iran, said on Sunday that such a meeting was planned but could be derailed by a crackdown on protesters. He claimed that he contacted Iran and offered negotiations because he thought it would take “very strong” military action against the regime.

“The meeting is being prepared, but we may have to take action because of what happened before the meeting. But a meeting is being arranged. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.

This followed direct contact between Araghchi and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Araghchi was trying to prevent a potential US attack on Iran, but the status of Iran’s nuclear program was also discussed.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said communication lines with the United States remained open but messages from the United States were “often contradictory.”

Araghchi, who briefed foreign diplomats in Tehran with his first statements after Trump’s statements, has not deviated from the official line that Iran can only negotiate on the basis of respect since the USA and Israel bombed its nuclear facilities last June.

Authorities also claimed that the situation in Iran was “completely under control” as they launched a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests across the country, now in their 16th day.

In his comments on Air Force One, Trump said Iran was seeking negotiations because “I think they’re tired of being beaten by the United States. Iran wants to negotiate.”

But when asked whether Iranian leaders had crossed a red line with the crackdown on protests, he replied: “It seems so. It looks like some people who shouldn’t have been killed have been killed.” Estimates of the death toll provided by the National Council of Resistance in Iran range from 300 to 3,000.

Pressed on plans for military intervention, Trump said: “We’re looking at this very seriously, and so is the military. And there are several options.” Options will be evaluated in the next 24 hours at a management strategy meeting on Iran.

Trump also said he plans to meet with Elon Musk about restoring internet in Iran, where authorities shut down services for four days, using the Starlink service.

Trump’s claims about discussions surrounding the talks – if true – suggest that there is a strong private debate within the Iranian government about the need to lift US sanctions through a nuclear deal.

It is widely accepted in the reformist-led government that unless US sanctions are lifted, the economic problems that have sparked the protests in the country will continue.

But there is no sign that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or the hardline-dominated parliament are ready to approve such talks, and often fantastical explanations for the protests or denials of their existence relieve Khamenei of the need for a policy response.

But it was significant that in the regime’s show of force, which mobilized its core base through mass demonstrations on Monday, reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian did not address the crowd, falling instead to hard-line parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who called Trump a delusional.

Ellie Geranmayeh, Middle East expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the Iranian government may have reached a ceiling on what it can offer protesters.

Araghchi described Trump’s support for the protest movement that has stirred the country since late December as “interference in the internal affairs of countries” […] “No government has the right to threaten military intervention under the pretext of protest or human rights.” The regime did not hesitate to show the protesters’ body bags and describe them as terrorists.

On Saturday, Araghchi met with Omani foreign minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, the key external mediator in Iran’s nuclear program.

But if Trump had been sent messages about the talks, his comments might have made those talks less likely to happen, as there would have been a political backlash over speaking to a man he hypocritically believed had five rounds of talks with Iran before bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities days before the sixth round.

Reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian, often accused of weakness, initially acknowledged the legitimacy of the protests and the need for economic reforms to root out corruption and control the exchange rate and thus inflation. A man driven by the need for consensus is unlikely to change the minds of a religious leader or security services.