The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says Tehran has not yet decided on its participation in the sixth round of indirect nuclear talks with the United States, as Friday’s anti-Iran aggression by the Israeli regime was highly likely coordinated with Washington.
Esmaeil Baghaei made the statement in a Saturday interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), a day before the proposed Iran-US meeting brokered by the Sultanate of Oman in Muscat, amid an upswing in escalations following Friday morning’s deadly Israeli strikes, which were met with harsh response from the Islamic Republic.
“It is unimaginable for the Islamic Republic of Iran, and indeed for anyone in the world, that the Zionist regime would have perpetrated such an adventurous aggression and warmongering in the region without the cooperation, coordination, or at least the conscious green light from the United States,” Baghaei said.
“The other side’s actions effectively rendered negotiation and dialogue meaningless,” Baghaei added. “It is not possible to simultaneously claim to be negotiating to reach an understanding on an issue, while at the same time dividing duties and allowing an apartheid regime to encroach on the territorial integrity of a country.”
Underlining that the Islamic Republic holds the US government responsible for the consequences and repercussions of the “ill-advised and unlawful action by the Zionist regime,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “It is still unclear what decision we will make” regarding Tehran’s participation in the Muscat talks.
Pointing out that the Tel Aviv regime had always intended to drag Western countries into conflict in the region, Baghaei said it seems Israel has succeeded this time and has swayed a diplomatic process with its adventurism, which shows US policymakers are “still heavily influenced and under the sway of the regime.”
In the early hours of Friday, Israel launched deadly aggression on various civilian areas and residential neighborhoods in the capital Tehran, and some other major cities.
The barbaric onslaught claimed dozens of innocent lives, including a number of the Islamic Republic’s top military officials and commanders.
In a crushing response and during a full-scale attack, code-named Operation True Promise III, hundreds of missiles were fired by Iran on Friday evening and successfully breached the Israeli regime’s much-touted multi-layered air defense system.
Keeping the exact number of casualties in the dark, Israeli media have so far confirmed at least four people dead and 70 others injured.
