By Anietie anii-bassey
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that he has instructed his foreign minister to explore the possibility of negotiations with the United States, marking Tehran’s clearest indication yet that it may seek dialogue with Washington after weeks of heightened tensions following a violent government crackdown on nationwide protests.
The announcement represents a notable shift for the reformist president, who for much of the past month had warned Iranians that unrest in the country had spiraled beyond his control. It also suggests he has secured backing from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for renewed diplomatic outreach, despite the fact that the 86-year-old cleric had previously dismissed the idea of talks with the United States.
According to regional officials, Turkey has been quietly working to arrange a possible meeting later this week as U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff travels through the region. Foreign ministers from Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also been invited to attend if the discussions materialize, said one official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press.
Whether the two longtime adversaries can bridge their deep differences remains uncertain. President Donald Trump has made clear that Iran’s nuclear program would be central to any negotiations, adding it to a list of demands from Tehran after ordering airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities during the 12-day conflict Israel launched against Iran in June.
Writing in both English and Farsi on social media, Pezeshkian said his decision followed “requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal by the President of the United States for negotiations.”
“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,” he wrote.
The U.S. government has not publicly confirmed that talks are scheduled. A semiofficial Iranian news outlet reported Monday that Pezeshkian had already issued such an order to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who previously held multiple rounds of discussions with Witkoff before the June fighting, but the report was later deleted without explanation.
Further insight into Tehran’s position emerged late Monday in an interview aired by Al Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel aligned politically with Hezbollah. Ali Shamkhani, a senior security adviser to Khamenei and a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said any initial engagement would likely begin indirectly before progressing to direct negotiations if a deal appeared within reach.
Direct talks with Washington have long been politically sensitive inside Iran’s theocratic system, with reformist figures such as Pezeshkian favoring engagement while hard-liners resist.
Shamkhani said any negotiations would focus solely on nuclear matters. Asked whether Russia could once again take custody of Iran’s enriched uranium, as it did under the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, he rejected the notion, saying there was “no reason” to pursue such an option. The Kremlin reiterated Monday that it had long offered that service as a possible way to ease international concerns.
“Iran does not seek nuclear weapons, will not seek a nuclear weapon and will never stockpile nuclear weapons,” Shamkhani said, adding that Tehran would nonetheless expect concessions in return.
Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade material. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said Iran is the only country enriching to that level without possessing a nuclear weapon. Tehran has so far refused the agency’s requests to inspect sites struck during the June war.
“The quantity of enriched uranium remains unknown, because part of the stockpile is under rubble, and there is no initiative yet to extract it, as it is extremely dangerous,” Shamkhani said.
Witkoff, meanwhile, was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top security officials on Tuesday, according to U.S. and Israeli officials who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Those meetings were also set to include the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and the military’s chief of staff.
Israeli leaders are expected to press for any agreement with Iran to include the removal of enriched uranium from the country, a halt to enrichment activities, strict limits on ballistic missile development and an end to Tehran’s support for allied militant groups across the region.
Shamkhani, however, dismissed the idea of abandoning uranium enrichment, a sticking point that has derailed previous rounds of diplomacy. In November, Araghchi said Iran had halted enrichment in the wake of U.S. airstrikes on its nuclear facilities.
After his stop in Israel, Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi for separate discussions related to the war between Russia and Ukraine, according to U.S. officials.
Trump struck a cautiously optimistic tone when asked about Iran in the Oval Office on Monday. “We have talks going on with Iran, we’ll see how it all works out,” he said, declining to specify what might trigger military action.
“I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump added. “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.”
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a vocal critic of Tehran during Trump’s first term, was far more skeptical, telling an audience at Dubai’s World Governments Summit that a durable agreement was unlikely.
“I think they may come away with some set of understandings,” he said. “But to think that there’s a long-term solution that actually provides stability and peace to this region while the ayatollah is still in power is something I pray for but find unimaginable.”
The diplomatic maneuvering unfolded against a backdrop of continued tension in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, the British military’s maritime monitoring center said a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz reported being hailed over the radio by “numerous small armed vessels.
” The ship continued on its route, and the incident appeared to have occurred in Iranian territorial waters, where authorities had warned in recent days of naval drills by the Revolutionary Guard.
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