Iran will not compromise on right to enrichment, tension aims to influence talks: Official

Iran will not abandon its right to uranium enrichment because of mounting frictions in the region, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday, adding that a “friendly” regional country had alerted Tehran over a potential military strike by Israel.

The official said the tensions were intended to “influence Tehran to change its position about its nuclear rights” during talks with the United States on Sunday in Oman.

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He did not disclose the name of the regional country that warned Iran about the Israeli attack.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because it could become a dangerous place, adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

The US Embassy in Baghdad advised American citizens on Thursday against traveling to Iraq.

The US Embassy in Israel said in a notice on Thursday that it is restricting travel for government employees and their family members outside the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva cities until further notice due to increased regional tensions.

A senior Iranian security official told Iran’s Press TV on Thursday that US military dependents leaving the region does not constitute a threat amid concerns that evacuation of non-essential personnel may be the preamble to regional escalation.

Tehran and Washington will hold a new round of talks, mediated by Omani officials, in Muscat to resolve a decades-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“We don’t want tensions and prefer diplomacy to resolve the (nuclear) issue, but our armed forces are fully ready to respond to any military strike,” the Iranian official said.

After five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, several obstacles remain.

They include Iran’s rejection of a US demand that Tehran commit to scrapping uranium enrichment. Iran wants a lifting of US sanctions imposed on the country since 2018 after Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six powers during his first term.

On Sunday’s meeting in Oman’s capital, Iran is expected to share a counterproposal to a US offer to bridge the gaps.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has dismissed the US proposal as against Iran’s interests, pledging to continue enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers view as a potential pathway to building nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

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