Iran’s foreign minister said this week he hopes to prepare a draft counterproposal within days of nuclear talks with the US, but Donald Trump has said he is considering limited military strikes.
Two US officials told Reuters that US military planning against Iran had reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing a leadership change in Tehran if ordered by Trump.
The US president on Thursday gave Tehran 10 to 15 days to resolve their long-running nuclear dispute or strike a deal to deal with “really bad things” as a US military build-up in the Middle East fueled fears of a wider war.
Asked on Friday if he was considering a limited strike to pressure Iran, Trump told reporters at the White House: “I can say I am considering it”. Asked about Iran later at a White House press conference, Trump said: “They better negotiate a fair deal.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Arakhi, said after indirect talks with Trump’s special envoy Steve Wittkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in Geneva this week, the two sides had reached an understanding on key “guiding principles” but that did not mean a deal was imminent.
Araqchi told US cable news network MS Now that he had a draft counterproposal that would be ready in the next two or three days for Iranian officials to review, with a week or more of US-Iran talks possible.
He said military action would complicate efforts to reach an agreement.
After the US and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities and some military sites in June, Trump resumed threatening attacks in January as Tehran cracked down on widespread protests with deadly force.
Referring to Friday’s crackdown, Trump said there was a difference between the people of Iran and the country’s leadership. “32,000 people were killed in a relatively short period of time,” he asserted, a figure that could not be immediately verified.
“It’s a very, very, very sad situation,” said Trump, whose threats to attack Iran led the leadership to abandon plans for mass executions two weeks ago.
“They are going to hang 837 people. And I gave them my word, if you hang one person, even one, you will be beaten immediately,” he said.
Hrana, a US-based group that monitors the human rights situation in Iran, recorded 7,114 confirmed deaths and said it had another 11,700 under review.
Arakchi said the Iranian government had already published a “comprehensive list” of a total of 3,117 people killed in the unrest, hours after Trump announced the death toll.
“If anyone doubts the accuracy of our data, please speak with evidence,” he posted on X.
Arakchi did not give Witkoff and Kushner a specific time frame on when the Iranians would receive their response, but said he believed a diplomatic deal was within reach and could be reached “in a very short period of time.”
UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric reiterated concerns about rhetoric and increased military activity in the region.
During the Geneva talks, the US did not seek zero uranium enrichment and Iran did not propose to stop enrichment, Arakchi told MS Now.
“What we’re talking about now is how to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, remains peaceful and peaceful forever,” he said.
Without giving further details, he added that instead of action on sanctions, technical and political “confidence-building measures” will be put in place to ensure that the program is peaceful.
Asked about Araqchi’s comments, a White House official said: “The president has made it clear that Iran does not have nuclear weapons or the ability to build them and cannot enrich uranium.”
