‘Unreliable’: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards rejects talks with US
‘Unreliable’: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards rejects talks with US
Top Iran official dismisses Donald Trump’s offer for talks as US’s B-52 bombers reach Middle East in message to Iran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has rejected negotiations with the United States and denied the likelihood of a US attack, a day after US President Donald Trump urged talks while saying he could not rule out a military confrontation.
“No talks will be held with the Americans and the Americans will not dare take military action against us,” Yadollah Javani, the IRGC’s deputy head for political affairs, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Friday.
“Our nation … sees America as unreliable.”
The dismissal came amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Trump, who pulled the US out of a landmark deal curbing Iran’s nuclear programme, has tightened sanctions on Tehran, eliminating waivers that had allowed some countries to buy Iranian oil, with the goal of reducing the country’s crude exports to zero.
The US also designated the IRGC a “terrorist organisation” in April.
Last week, Washington deployed bombers and warships to the Middle East, citing “credible threats” from Iran. It did not offer evidence for the claim and Tehran dismissed the move as “psychological warfare”.
The B-52 bombers arrived at a US airbase in Qatar on Thursday night, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, while the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln passed through Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday.
At the same time, Trump urged Iran’s leadership to sit down with him to discuss giving up Tehran’s nuclear programme. “What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” he told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
When asked about the risk of a US military confrontation with Iran, Trump said: “I guess you could say that always, right? I don’t want to say no, but hopefully, that won’t happen. We have one of the most powerful ships in the world that is loaded up and we don’t want to do anything.”
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