UNITED NATIONS, Jan 13 (APP): Amid heightening US-Iran tensions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday called for adopting the path of diplomacy and dialogue as Tehran kept lines of communication open with Washington, saying it is ready for either “war” or dialogue.
“As you know, we push for dialogue,” the UN chief’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in response to a question at his regular noon briefing in New York, as US President Donald Trump reportedly weighs responses — including military options — amid widening protests across the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“We are not warmongers, but we are prepared for war. … We are also prepared for negotiations, but fair negotiations, with equal rights and mutual respect,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a gathering of ambassadors in Iran on Monday, according to media reports.
Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday night that Iran had contacted the U.S. to propose talks, but added: “We may have to act before a meeting. … A meeting is being set up.” He declined to elaborate on the options the U.S. was considering on Iran.
Trump said he believed Iran was taking U.S. threats seriously. “They’ve been going through it for years with me,” he said in response to a question, noting the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Trump’s first term and the recent U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Though Iranian officials had expressed, after the 12-day Israeli war in June, that they would be open to returning to talks, they had also rejected what they called “maximalist demands” by the Trump administration, and so negotiations remained frozen.
“The communication channel between our Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the U.S. special envoy [Steve Witkoff] is open and messages are exchanged whenever necessary,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said during a news conference Monday, Reuters reported. The traditional U.S.-Iran diplomatic channel through Switzerland also remains open, he said.
Araghchi also met Saturday with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, who traveled to Tehran for talks and who has acted as a go-between for Tehran and Washington in the past.
Iranian authorities, who have shut down internet access, are struggling to contain some of the protests.
Trump told reporters Sunday night that he was getting hourly reports on the crackdown on protests. “We’re looking at it very seriously. The military’s looking at it. And we’re looking at some very strong options,” he added.
On Monday, Araghchi reiterated the government’s narrative about the protest violence — that it was being committed by “terrorists” and not security forces. “A large number of the people who have unfortunately died in these incidents have been shot in the back by these people,” he said.