Iranian cleric says Saudi defense minister’s visit shows Tehran's strength

Two senior Israeli officials held an unannounced meeting in Paris on Friday with White House envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the ongoing US-Iran nuclear negotiations, Axios reported, citing three Israeli sources familiar with the meeting.

Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea met Witkoff ahead of Saturday’s second round of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Rome. The meeting was described as a low-profile effort to influence the US negotiating position, according to the report.

Axios said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned the US could reach an agreement resembling the 2015 nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump exited in 2018.

"When I was appointed to the position of Defense Minister, I pledged to lead two central goals: preventing nuclear weapons from Iran and winning the war," Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Friday.

"The IDF is currently working towards a decisive victory in all arenas," he added. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are committed, together with all parties, to leading a clear line that will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons."

"We will not allow threats of annihilation against the State of Israel," Katz continued. "This is our responsibility and historic role, and we will do whatever it takes to realize them."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that the country’s future is not dependent on the outcome of nuclear negotiations, and that failure to reach an agreement would not lead to a crisis.

“If no agreement is reached, it doesn’t mean we will face problems,” Pezeshkian said, according to Iranian media. “We have not tied our progress to the talks.”

“We do not accept humiliation, but we are not after war either,” he added.

"Debate on elements of a potential framework nuclear deal is at a very early stage among Trump's aides," Reuters cited a source briefed on a key White House meeting as saying.

US President Donald Trump and top aides discussed Iran strategy in the gathering on Tuesday, the news agency reported.

Citing two sources familiar with White House thinking, Reuters reported that Iran and the United States might reach an interim agreement before a more detailed deal.

A senior Iranian cleric said on Friday that Iran should not link its economic and political decisions to the outcome of nuclear negotiations, warning that such an approach had already caused harm during the 2015 nuclear deal.

“We must be careful not to condition our country and economy on negotiations,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer Imam in the northeastern city of Mashhad. “They told us we needed the deal for water, for electricity – and we suffered greatly as a result.”

Without naming specific officials, Alamolhoda criticized those who, in his view, made national progress dependent on diplomatic outcomes. He urged authorities across all branches of government to continue development efforts regardless of talks with the United States.