CAIRO - Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear programme is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide whether to attend planned talks on Sunday.
“The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” state media quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying on Saturday.
“It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghaei was quoted as saying, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel.
He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel’s attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to continue negotiating over its nuclear programme.
The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, Oman, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes.
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment programme is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks aimed at reaching an accord under which Iran would abandon uranium enrichment for military purposes, in return for the lifting of sanctions on its oil exports.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials said a preliminary assessment found the Israeli strikes did substantial damage to facilities at the Natanz nuclear site, 225km south of Tehran.
Natanz is the country’s main uranium enrichment site, but the IAEA said it did not appear that the main enrichment facilities, located deep underground, were damaged.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but that they still saw room for an accord.
In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump encouraged Iran to continue pursuing a deal with Washington “before it is too late”.
