Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that he had told the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the United States after weeks of escalating tension with the Trump administration. It was the first clear signal from Iran that it could take part in talks that are expected to take place later this week.
The decision came after “requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal by the President of the United States for negotiations,” Pezeshkian said in a social media post. “I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency.”
“I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” President Trump said Monday. “Right now, we’re talking to them, we’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with the possibility of a new military attack, as what he’s called an “armada” of U.S. warships heads for the Persian Gulf. He initially said the U.S. could attack if Iran killed protesters amid its brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations that rocked the country in early January. Last week he wielded the same threat, but said an attack could be launched if Iran refuses to negotiate a new agreement over its nuclear program.
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U.S. senior envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to the region, and Gulf countries, including Turkey and Qatar, have been working to arrange talks for later this week. The White House has not confirmed that Witkoff will attend negotiations with Iranian officials. Foreign ministers from Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have also been invited to participate in talks, if they occur, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed regional official.
Iranian protester tells CBS News Mr. Trump should “keep his word”
“Our biggest fear is that if they [the Iranian government] stay in power, they want to take revenge, because people crossed their red line by going to the street, by shouting ‘death to Khamenei and Islamic Republic,'” Zahra, who participated in the protests as they reached their peak on Jan. 8 and 9, told CBS News on Friday.
Her name has been changed to protect her identity.
She said people in Iran would support a U.S. intervention to topple the regime led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“People without ties to the regime, they want them gone at any expense. They want Khamenei to be either removed or arrested or whatever. But they want the Islamic Regime to be gone,” Zahra said. “Every single one of them, from the so-called hardliners — the circle closer to Khamenei — to the ones who were known as the reformists … we want all of them gone, because they are a system. They’ve been working together, and they’re complicit in this.”
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Zahra said during the protests in Iran, “we saw President Trump’s tweets on satellite TV. We read when he said: ‘Help is on the way.’ People trusted him. People trusted him big time. And people came to the streets.”
She asked Mr. Trump to “keep his word.”
“We tried every possibility, and all of that was peaceful,” Zahra said. “People were unarmed and they were shot in big crowds. So, what I see is that these people have done everything they could for a better future. And now there is an understanding among them that we can’t do it by our own.”