United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that talks with Iran are continuing to try to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf, even as the US military announced shooting down an Iranian drone that approached its aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that Washington was negotiating with Iran “right now”, but declined to say where the talks were taking place.
“[The talks] are all over. But they are negotiating. They’d like to do something, and we’ll see if something is going to be done,” he said.
“They had a chance to do something a while ago, and it didn’t work out. And we did ‘Midnight Hammer’, I don’t think they want that happening again,” he added, referring to the operation last June in which the US Air Force and Navy struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump, who has been pushing Tehran to agree to talks over its nuclear programme, has repeatedly threatened to attack the country again over a recent crackdown on antigovernment protests. The US president sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Gulf last week, leading to fears of a possible military confrontation.
The carrier strike group, which brought roughly 5,700 additional US troops, joined three destroyers and three littoral combat ships that were already in the region.
Tensions have been easing in recent days amid a push by regional powers for a resolution.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier on Tuesday that he had instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency”, provided that a “suitable environment exists”.
“These negotiations shall be conducted within the framework of our national interests,” Pezeshkian added.
Drone shoot-down
The Iranian president’s announcement came as US Central Command (CENTCOM) said a US fighter jet from the USS Abraham Lincoln “shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board”.
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CENTCOM said the Shahed-139 drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier, which was sailing about 800km (500 miles) from Iran’s southern coast, with “unclear intent”. And it “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters”.
There was no immediate comment from the Iranian authorities.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter, reported that communication was lost with a drone – which had “successfully” sent data back to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – in international waters.
Tasnim said an investigation was under way to determine why the disconnection took place.
After the shoot-down, CENTCOM said that IRGC forces also harassed a US-flagged and US-crewed merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf waterway critical to global trade.
“Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” it said.
Iran’s Fars news agency cited unnamed Iranian officials as saying later in the day that a vessel had entered Iranian territorial waters without the necessary legal permits.
The officials said the vessel was warned and left the area “without any special security event taking place”.
Talks expected
The two incidents did not appear to alter plans for the talks, which are expected to take place on Friday.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, “is set to have conversations with the Iranians later this week”.
“Those are still scheduled as of right now,” Leavitt said.
Tasnim quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying consultations were under way to select a venue for the meeting, with Turkiye, Oman and several other countries in the region having offered to host.
The Associated Press news agency, citing an unnamed Turkish official, said foreign ministers from Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also been invited to attend the talks, if they happen.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was working with contacts in Iran at the highest levels to de-escalate the situation. “All of us in the region collectively… are making the right contacts right connections and contacts to make sure we are playing a positive role,” said Majed Al Ansari, a spokesman for the ministry.
“Qatar is not standing alone on this, we are working together in tandem to make sure we de-escalate and protect our region and make sure there are not more escalations,’” he added.
The Reuters news agency meanwhile reported that Iran is demanding that the talks be held in Oman, not Turkiye, and that the scope be narrowed to two-way negotiations on nuclear issues only. It cited an unnamed regional source.
Last year, US and Iranian officials held five rounds of talks in Oman, until discussions were suspended due to Israel’s 12-day war on Iran, which Washington later joined.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Iranian officials were “looking for a pragmatic approach when it comes to these talks”.
Iranian officials have said they want the negotiations to focus on the country’s nuclear programme, while Washington reportedly wants to discuss a range of issues, including Iran’s ties to regional armed groups as well as its ballistic missile and defence programmes.
“[Iran] is saying it is appreciative of regional efforts to [bring] down [tensions], while the major issue remains to be solved between Washington and Tehran,” Asadi said.
“Of course, we’ve also got a trust issue, and we have to remember that there were talks in June, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities, nuclear scientists, military headquarters, as well as civilian infrastructure,” he added.
Analysts, meanwhile, say they do not believe the talks can be fruitful.
“The question is, will this lead to anything? I have not seen any signals from Washington or Tehran suggesting that either side is willing to, if you will, soften their red lines,” Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.
“So, unless that changes, unless there is a last-minute surprise by either the American or Iranian side, then I can’t really see how holding diplomatic talks might take this crisis in a peaceful direction,” he said, adding that, this time, the US was “flexing muscle” and “posturing” a lot more.
“Is the US deploying all of these military assets to really get the Iranian attention on the need for a deal soon rather than later? Or is it perhaps preparing for something protracted, in terms of a political project that looks like regime change in the Islamic Republic, which some of Trump’s supporters are calling for?” Vatanka said.
