Iran is prepared to discuss its regional allied forces in talks with the US, Al Hadath reported Friday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Tehran views its proxies as weakened and may be willing to negotiate over them in exchange for preserving its missile program, the Saudi channel added.
A senior Iranian cleric on Friday strongly opposed renewed talks with the United States, saying any negotiations—direct or indirect—would undermine Iran’s national pride and repeat decades of failed diplomacy.
“Negotiating with America is against our national pride,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, the firebrand Friday imam of Mashhad, during his sermon, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. “No Iranian with self-respect would accept to approach the US empty-handed.”
He added that US demands—ranging from dismantling Iran’s missile program to limiting its regional influence—amounted to surrender. “They want us to give up everything: our weapons, our science, even our pride. No honorable Iranian would accept that.”
Calling on Iran’s negotiators to resist pressure, Alamolhoda warned: “Direct talks are worse than indirect ones. We’ve been here before—and it always ends badly.”
A senior Iranian cleric on Friday rejected the idea of direct negotiations with the United States, describing it as "Trump's deceptive ploy", saying such talks are not acceptable to Iran.
“Direct talks are beneath us,” said Tehran’s interim Friday prayer Imam Kazem Sedighi during his weekly sermon, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “How can we trust those who tore up the deal?”
Sedighi said any engagement with Washington must be approached with caution, citing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s guidance that negotiations should only take place when there is certainty the other side will honor its commitments.
“There is no room left for negotiation where they try to take the nuclear industry from us,” he said.
