Iran warned Monday that it would respond “ferociously” to any U.S. attack, no matter how limited, after President Donald Trump said he was weighing possible strikes against the Islamic Republic.
Washington has increased its military presence in the Middle East to pressure Tehran ahead of nuclear negotiations set to resume Thursday. Trump has signaled that a limited strike remains an option if talks fail to produce a deal.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said any military action, even on a small scale, would be considered an act of aggression.
“And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defense, ferociously. So that’s what we would do,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist.
The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation.
Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday.
The European Union, which has been sidelined in mediation efforts, called for a diplomatic solution ahead of the talks.
“We don’t need another war in this region. We already have a lot,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“It is true that Iran is at its weakest point. We should be using this time to find a diplomatic solution.”
Iran’s clerical leadership has faced mounting challenges, including a wave of mass protests that peaked in January, last year’s 12-day war with Israel, and the weakening of its regional proxies.
Iran has insisted that only discussions on its nuclear program are on the table at the mediated talks. Western countries believe the program is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the negotiations for Iran, while the United States is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump questioned why Iran had not “capitulated” in the face of Washington’s military deployment, Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News broadcast over the weekend.
Baghaei responded Monday that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history.
Trump initially threatened military action over the violent crackdown on protests that rights groups say left thousands dead, but his focus later shifted to Iran’s nuclear program.
Scattered anti-government protests have continued despite the threat of suppression and arrests.
Students rallied over the weekend as the university semester restarted, commemorating those killed in competing pro- and anti-government demonstrations.
Fears of a new conflict have grown, prompting several countries to urge their citizens to leave Iran.
India on Monday joined Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia in calling on their citizens, estimated at about 10,000 in Iran according to India’s foreign ministry, to leave the country.
