Iran: Nuclear Talks With U.S. ‘Meaningless’ Following Israeli Military Offensive

Iran declared on Friday that discussions with the United States regarding its nuclear programme are now “meaningless” in light of Israel’s largest military assault against Tehran to date, accusing Washington of backing the offensive.

Iran and Israel exchanged airstrikes early on Saturday, after the Jewish state carried out its largest-ever military offensive against its long-standing rival, aiming to stop it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The Israeli strikes on Iran throughout the day and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflagration, although Iran’s allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel.

“The other side (the U.S.) 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,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.

Iran Condemns Washington’s Role

He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission.

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.

Iran earlier accused the U.S. 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 negotiate over its nuclear programme.

The sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, 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.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.

(With inputs from Reuters)