US President Donald Trump has stated that he will not disclose his plans regarding Iran to anyone, not even his closest regional allies.
When asked about the possibility of strikes on Iran on Saturday, Trump said that “revealing details could undermine the prospect of a peaceful resolution.”
“Well, we can’t tell them the plan. If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as telling you the plan – it could be worse, actually,” he added, saying, “But look, the plan is that [Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something; otherwise, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Over the past couple of weeks, Trump deployed what he called a “massive” and “beautiful armada” to the region, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, to pressure Tehran into accepting his conditions.
Having intensified military pressure on Tehran in recent weeks, US administration continues to prioritise dialogue over military action. Both Tehran and Washington officials have indicated that backchannel diplomacy is now taking centre-stage amid rising tensions.
After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said “Tehran is open to respectful negotiations with the United States”.
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“Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing,” Larijani said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, warned this week that “any forceful actions can only create chaos in the region,” while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to help de-escalate tensions and facilitate talks.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has also emphasised that Tehran is not seeking conflict with the United States and argued that war would benefit neither side. “The 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,” Pezeshkian said.
Meanwhile, Western intelligence agencies report no indication that Iran is enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels. Although repair work continues at the three sites struck by the United States last year, there is no evidence of high-level enrichment at these facilities, they said.
A report published on Thursday by a major US media outlet claimed that weapons-grade uranium remains buried at one of the sites, with current activity limited to excavation aimed at creating more secure underground facilities.
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