Iran followed the United States on October 21 in denying that the two countries had scheduled direct bilateral negotiations on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme. The New York Times, quoting unnamed US administration officials, had said on October 20 that secret exchanges between US and Iranian officials had yielded agreement “in principle” to hold one-on-one talks. “We don’t have any discussions or negotiations with America,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference. “The (nuclear) talks are ongoing with the P5+1 group of nations. Other than that, we have no discussions with the United States.” The P5+1 group comprises the permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia – plus Germany. The United States has been working with the P5+1 to pressure Iran on its nuclear programme, but with few results. The United States and other western powers allege that the programme is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, but Tehran says it is purely peaceful.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander was quoted as praising the launch of a drone into Israeli airspace by the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah this month. “This issue showed that the Zionists (Israelis) and Americans must know that no place is safe for them anymore,” Mohsen Kazemini was quoted as saying by Fars. Separately, the Guards’ top commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said he saw no chance of a military strike on Iran, ISNA reported.