Iran has warned that any direct involvement by the United States in ongoing regional aggression would have grave consequences, with foreign minister Abbas Araghchi describing such a move as “very dangerous for everybody,” reports Al Jazeera.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul on Saturday, Araghchi said diplomacy cannot proceed while Iranian civilians are under attack.
“In order for us to come back to diplomacy, the aggression should be stopped,” he said. “It is obvious—I cannot go to negotiations with the United States when our people are under bombardment, under the support of the United States.”
Araghchi accused Washington of being complicit in the conflict from the beginning, despite official denials. “They keep saying they are not involved, but we have many indications they have been involved from day one,” he said. “Now the interviews by the U.S. President are quite clear—he is talking about a U.S. leadership on this question.”
The Iranian diplomat expressed alarm over reports that the U.S. military may take a more direct role in the hostilities. “That would be very unfortunate,” he said. “And I think that would be very dangerous for everybody.”
Earlier, White house said that Donald Trump will decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the Iran-Israel conflict within the next two weeks.
In a White House press briefing on Friday, Press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a message directly from Trump: “Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Bd-pratidin English/TR
