Iran’s Araghchi meets Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Saudi Arabia

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Saturday that Tehran’s delegation to the fourth round of indirect talks with the United States, scheduled for Sunday in Muscat, will include “the necessary experts and specialists.”

“I can only speak about our own delegation,” Baghaei told reporters, declining to comment on US participation.

His remarks came after a CNN report said the US technical team would not take part in this round of negotiations.

A senior official in the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader warned on Saturday that failure to defend the country’s leadership could lead to national collapse, citing Libya and Syria as cautionary examples.

“If people fail to defend their leader, the enemy’s kick will awaken them from sleep,” said Ali Saeedi, head of the Supreme Leader’s ideological-political office, according to state media.

He said divine support depends on active resistance. “Worship at home is not enough. One must step into the arena and fight falsehood,” he said.

He added that Iran faces determined enemies. “Two opposing wills now stand face to face — one from the front of truth, the other from enemies who will fight to delay it by even a single day.”

“Your judgment is right,” Khamenei told the crowd after they chanted the slogan during a speech in Tehran.

“Americans fully support Israel — in the true sense of the word,” he added. “In the world of politics, things may be said that suggest otherwise, but that is not the reality.”

The remarks come as Tehran prepares to begin a fourth round of talks with the US on Sunday. Khamenei used the same platform to frame Israel’s campaign in Gaza as part of a broader Western war effort. “The people of Gaza are not facing Israel alone—they are facing America and Britain,” he said.

Hardline rhetoric extended into Iran’s state-aligned press. Kayhan, a daily overseen by Khamenei’s office, published a full-page commentary portraying Donald Trump as emblematic of US power.

“Trump is not a passing phenomenon,” the paper wrote. “He is a framework based on narcissism, superiority delusions, and threat-based tactics.” The editorial warned against mistaking diplomatic outreach for sincerity, calling American gestures “a tool for deception, not an indication of true boundaries.”

In Washington, Trump’s envoy to the talks set out maximalist conditions for a deal. “An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line,” Steve Witkoff told Breitbart News on Friday. “No enrichment. That means dismantlement.”

Witkoff said Iran’s nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan must be completely dismantled, and warned that if Sunday’s discussions are “not productive, then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route.” He added, “They cannot have centrifuges, they cannot have anything that allows them to build a weapon.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday endorsed chants of “Death to America” from his supporters, saying the United States is fully backing Israel’s actions in Gaza and that Muslim nations must resist both.

“Your judgment is right,” Khamenei told the crowd after they chanted the slogan during a speech to workers in Tehran. “Americans support Israel’s crimes.”

“Americans fully support Israel — in the true sense of the word,” he added. “In the world of politics, things may be said that suggest otherwise, but that is not the reality.”

He also warned of efforts to shift global focus away from the war. “They use rumors and meaningless issues to distract minds from Palestine. Minds must not be diverted,” he said.

Khamenei called on Muslim nations to stand against both Israel and its Western allies. “Muslim nations must stand against Israel and its supporters,” he said. He concluded by expressing confidence in Israel’s defeat. “

I believe Palestine will be victorious over Israel,” he said.

Iran’s Islamic Republic newspaper on Saturday questioned the absence despite Tehran’s growing alignment with Moscow and ongoing coordination on nuclear talks with the United States.

“Despite Putin’s boasts of friendship with Iran, Iran was missing from the ceremony where he thanked North Korean soldiers for supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine,” the paper wrote, referring to the Friday parade in Moscow marking the Soviet and allied victory over Nazi Germany.

More than two dozen world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korea’s top military officials, attended the event alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian did not attend, and no high-level Iranian delegation was publicly present. In February, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told TASS he would attend the event in his diplomatic capacity, but said participation by senior Iranian officials was still under discussion.

Iranian-made drones

The parade, one of Russia’s most politically symbolic events, featured a display of drones used in Ukraine, including the Geran-2 — a loitering munition based on Iranian designs. Their inclusion underscored growing military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, even as Iran denies supplying drones for battlefield use.

The absence of senior Iranian officials drew attention in Tehran, where Russia is regarded as a strategic partner and a channel for backdoor diplomacy. Both Iranian and US officials have been in contact with Russian intermediaries in recent weeks as indirect nuclear talks continue.

The Kremlin has also positioned itself as a go-between, with Moscow agreeing to help the US communicate with Iran on its nuclear program and regional activities, according to a Bloomberg report in March, later confirmed by the Kremlin.

Despite this, some Iranian officials and analysts are voicing concern. Former Iranian ambassador to Russia Nematollah Izadi warned that Russia “cannot be an impartial mediator,” citing its own geopolitical stakes in US–Iran tensions.

“They are eager to mediate, but whether they can do so effectively is doubtful,” he told ILNA news agency in March. “They have their own interests. If Iran fails to maintain balance, all its foreign policy eggs will end up in Russia’s basket—and most likely China’s as well.”

Russia and Iran recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement covering defense, energy, and trade. Yet, the Islamic Republic paper warned that appearances like Iran’s absence at the Victory Day parade risk making the partnership appear one-sided.