Iranian security official says no talks with US until conditions met
Tehran, Sep 15
A top Iranian security official said early on Tuesday that Iran will not negotiate with the United States unless its conditions are met.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei made the remarks in a post on social media platform X in response to US President Donald Trump's remarks on Monday, in which Trump claimed that Tehran wanted to make a deal "quickly and badly" and that Washington could resume negotiations with it.
"The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the USA will choose to engage -- The concept of which we are open to," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"Don't get distracted by the US president's mixed signals -- from 'no negotiations' to 'we're ready to talk.' The stakes around oil and the straits have changed. Damage control won't stop what's coming," Rezaei said.
"No talks until Iran's conditions are met. Period!" he stressed.
On June 18, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war in the region on all fronts, including Lebanon, reports Xinhua news agency.
Under the MoU, they were scheduled to hold negotiations within a period of 60 days, which ended on August 17, to reach a final agreement, but the talks' fate remains unclear following a series of recent escalations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, two fishing boats were targeted in a drone attack off Iran's southern coast on Monday night, leaving a number of fishermen missing, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The attack was carried out off the coast of the southern port city of Kargan and near Larak Island, Mehr cited Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan province's deputy governor for political and security affairs, as saying.
Search and rescue operations have been launched to find the fishermen, Nafisi added, noting that further details of the incident will be announced after investigation, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting Mehr.
Earlier, the Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that a super oil tanker seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz via the "forbidden" route south of the waterway exploded and caught fire after hitting naval mines.
In a statement on the IRGC's official news outlet, Sepah News, the navy said efforts to contain the fire on the tanker, identified as "EL GAIA," were futile, and the entire vessel was engulfed in flames.
It added that warnings had been issued about the risks of using the "illegal" route in the strategic waterway, stressing that the strait remains closed and under the control of Iran's naval forces.
— IANS
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