Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said late Saturday that, contrary to what he described as an “artificially manufactured media war narrative,” efforts to establish a framework for negotiations with the United States are making progress.
Larijani made the remarks in a post on X following a visit to Moscow on Friday.
Earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had said Tehran had even accepted to transfer enriched uranium abroad within a defined framework, but that Washington was not seeking reassurance about Iran’s nuclear activity, but instead aimed at Iran’s disarmament.
US President Donald Trump said later in an interview that Iran was negotiating with Washington over its nuclear program. He had previously warned that if the talks fail, a US attack would be more severe than the strikes on nuclear facilities during the 12-day war in June.
In recent weeks, the United States has significantly built up its military presence in the region and has repeatedly threatened Iran with military action.
At the same time, regional countries, including Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, have been endeavoring to de-escalate tensions. Trump has also confirmed that Washington’s Persian Gulf allies were engaged in talks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed hosting negotiations between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Trump. Turkey also hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday, during which discussions were held on the framework of potential negotiations.
Meanwhile, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani paid a brief visit to Iran on Saturday evening, meeting with Larijani and Araghchi. According to media outlets on both sides, the talks focused on reducing regional tensions.
Egypt has also been in constant contact with Iran, the United States and other regional actors.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held a phone call with Pezeshkian on Saturday evening, where he warned of the negative consequences of rising tensions and conflict not only for Iran but for the entire region, stressing that there is no military solution to the disputes.
He expressed Egypt’s readiness to support and back diplomatic initiatives aimed at resolving issues and strengthening regional stability.
