Iran will not enter talks until US retreats from positions – IRGC media

Influential hardline politician Saeed Jalili said negotiations should be judged solely by whether they strengthen Iran, describing diplomacy as a tool rather than an objective.

“Negotiation is a tool, not a goal. It may be effective at one point and ineffective at another,” Jalili, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X.

“If it consolidates and increases the country’s power, it is valuable. If it weakens the country’s power, it is harmful,” he added.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said Saturday that Tehran would pursue those it holds responsible for alleged war crimes during the two recent conflicts and seek compensation for the damage caused.

“War criminals must be punished in proportion to the crimes they committed, and they must also pay compensation,” Ejei said at a meeting with international lawyers involved in pursuing cases against Israeli officials.

He said Iran’s prosecutor-general, the judiciary’s international affairs office and its lawyers’ center were gathering evidence against the United States and Israel, including material related to Ali Khamenei’s killing and attacks on a school in Minab.

A US official told ABC News that any agreement with Iran would depend on Tehran handing over highly enriched uranium buried under rubble after US airstrikes, referring to the material as “nuclear dust.”

“Either they’re going to give us the nuclear dust or we have very low-cost military options to ensure that it remains buried underground forever,” the official said.

The official said Washington retained military, diplomatic and economic leverage if Iran refused.

“We have a lot of options if they resist giving the dust,” the official said. “The United States fundamentally has the cards. We want the dust.”

“But I want to be clear here that if we don’t get the dust, we do not have a deal with Iran,” the official added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Saturday for talks on the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to prevent the renewed US-Iran confrontation from widening.

The latest escalation followed attacks on three commercial vessels using the shipping lane on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz. Washington blamed Iranian forces and struck Iranian coastal and naval targets. Tehran disputed responsibility but warned that ships using routes not coordinated with it faced danger.

After the June ceasefire, commercial vessels increasingly used an Oman-backed southern corridor rather than Iran-designated routes.

The shift angered hardliners who feared it could weaken the Islamic Republic’s claim to control shipping through the strait.

The roughly 167-km waterway separates Iran from Oman’s Musandam Peninsula. At its narrowest it is about 54 km wide, with Iranian and Omani territorial waters covering the passage.

The established two-mile shipping lanes run mainly through Omani waters, but international law protects transit through straits used for global navigation.

The governor of Pakdasht said explosions heard east of Tehran were caused by a controlled operation to dispose of explosive materials.

“The explosions heard a few minutes ago in eastern Tehran province were related to a controlled operation to dispose of explosive materials,” the governor said. “There is no cause for concern for citizens.”

Residents in Pakdasht and Qiamdasht had earlier reported hearing several explosions, prompting speculation over their source.

The area lies near the Parchin and Khojir military-industrial complexes, which have been linked to the Islamic Republic’s missile, explosives and defense programs and have previously been targeted in Israeli strikes.

There was no indication that either facility had been attacked in the latest incident.