Trump has no choice but to reach a deal with Tehran, Iranian lawmaker says

Iran said on Tuesday that Russia’s position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and its involvement in nuclear cooperation with Tehran give it an important role in diplomatic efforts over Iran’s nuclear program.

“Russia’s role as a permanent Security Council member is important, and the nuclear cooperation between Iran and Russia naturally gives it a key part to play,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

She added that Iran is encouraged by what it views as a constructive attitude from Washington, saying, “We are hopeful the good management we’re seeing from that side will help move things in a positive direction.”

An Iranian lawmaker has denied a New York Times report that Tehran proposed a joint venture to run its nuclear enrichment facilities as part of ongoing negotiations with the United States, adding that American negotiators have blocked Israeli influence from entering the talks.

“The claim about a joint nuclear investment between Iran and the United States is not true and has not been among the topics discussed in the negotiations,” Tehran-based Rouydad 24 website quoted Yaghoub Rezazadeh, secretary of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, as saying in a interview.

“In the reports we received from the foreign ministry, this issue was never raised,” Rezazadeh added.

Rezazadeh added the United States has so far prevented Israeli objectives from influencing ongoing nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

“What we know for certain is that, so far, the American negotiating team has not allowed the objectives, views, or ideologies of the Zionist regime to enter the negotiations,” Rezazadeh said.

He also said that US President Donald Trump to Iran’s Supreme Leader had contained threats, adding that Tehran's response prompted the United States to back down. “Iran’s firm and appropriate response led them to retreat from the tone of that letter during the negotiations,” he said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is backing the country's negotiating team in ongoing nuclear talks with the United States, while the armed forces remain on high alert, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday.

“Our armed forces have their fingers on the trigger and are ready to respond to any potential threat,” said Brigadier General Rasoul Sanayi-Rad, deputy political chief of the office of the Supreme Leader, according to Iranian media. “The field backs diplomacy.”

He added that the military, including the IRGC, supports Iran’s negotiators and reinforces their position at the table. “The IRGC backs the diplomacy team as a capacity of the system and keeps their hands full in the face of an adversary that recognizes our power,” he said.

Iran is urging members of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to strengthen legal cooperation in response to international sanctions affecting several member states, a senior official said during a visit to China on Tuesday.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said judicial systems within the SCO can play a key role in holding sanctioning countries accountable through legal mechanisms.

“The issue of legal discussions related to unilateral sanctions is on the agenda,” Gharibabadi said, adding that the Iranian delegation is pursuing “a more coordinated and multilateral approach” within the SCO.

The SCO includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, and several Central Asian countries.

The United States has positioned two aircraft carriers and a fleet of B-2 stealth bombers in the region near Iran, indicating potential military readiness amid ongoing nuclear negotiations, according to a Fox News opinion piece by Dr. Rebecca Grant, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a US-based think tank focused on defense and logistics.

“Two aircraft carriers and a fleet of B-2 stealth bombers are pointed straight at Iran,” Grant wrote. “Never before have we seen such a big forward deployment of B-2 bombers.”

She argued that a campaign to target Iran’s nuclear weapons program is “no longer far-fetched,” citing Israeli airstrikes in 2024 as having lowered the political and military risks of such an operation. “Frankly, the attacks on Iran’s air defenses carried out by Israeli F-35s and other planes last year have lowered the risk calculus,” she said.

Grant linked the deployment to President Donald Trump’s broader diplomatic strategy ahead of talks with Iran. “To keep the talks going, a big part of Trump’s strategy is to deploy to US Central Command the forces required to smash Iran’s nuclear weapons manufacturing capability,” she wrote.

The op-ed said that the United States can act unilaterally if needed. “The military calls this ‘sovereign options,’ because Trump needs no other country’s permission to launch strikes from aircraft carriers and bombers,” she said.

According to Grant, the deployment of six B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia—capable of delivering 30,000-lb. bunker-busting bombs—suggests planning for sustained precision strikes on Iran’s underground facilities.