Iran’s Larijani accuses Israel of trying to sabotage US negotiations 

Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has accused Israel of attempting to sabotage negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme, so it can ignite a new war that would destabilise the region.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic during his visit to Doha, Qatar, where he met top officials on Wednesday, Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Israel had been fabricating pretexts to try to derail the negotiations with Washington, as the renewed talks were at a delicate stage.

“Our negotiations are exclusively with the United States – we are not engaged in any talks with Israel,” he said.

“However, Israel has inserted itself into this process, with their intent on undermining and sabotaging these negotiations.”

He said Israel’s strategy was “to destabilise the region”, and that its agenda “extends beyond its alleged concerns about Iran”, as was evidenced by its attack on the Qatari capital targeting Hamas officials in September.

“They are gambling not only with Iran, but also Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye,” he said, calling on regional leaders to “be aware of this.”

Israel’s attack on Iran in June came as Tehran and Washington were engaged in talks and effectively torpedoed the negotiations, which were several rounds in.

Netanyahu meets with Trump

Iran and the US held a round of indirect negotiations in Muscat, Oman, on Friday, seeking to negotiate a resolution to the nuclear dispute, amid a US military buildup in the region and Trump’s ongoing threats to strike Iran if it does not accede to his demands.

Amid plans for a second round of talks – the timing of which is currently under discussion, Larijani said – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Washington on Wednesday for urgent talks with Trump, where he presented the US leader with “principles” for negotiating with Iran.

After the meeting, Trump said “nothing definitive” had been reached, “other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated”.

‘Common ground’

Larijani told Al Jazeera that Tehran had not yet received a specific proposal from Washington in the negotiations, and that the talks in Muscat had consisted of an exchange of messages.

He said that Tehran was taking a positive position towards the negotiations, and that Washington, too, appeared to have concluded that negotiations were the preferred option.

He said there was common ground between Tehran and Washington regarding Iran not possessing a nuclear weapon, which it insists it is not pursuing.

Missiles, zero enrichment off the table

However, Larijani reiterated that the negotiations would be limited to Iran’s nuclear programme, with issues such as Iran’s missile programme – which the US has pushed to address in the talks, and is a key concern for Israel – not up for discussion.

“When we met at the negotiating table, a clear boundary was drawn … our talks centred solely on the nuclear issue,” he said, adding that this was a “logical” approach.

“Our missile program stands entirely separate from the nuclear one. It is a domestic matter, basically linked to our national security. As such, it cannot be part of these negotiations.”

Similarly, he said, the notion of Iran reducing its uranium enrichment to zero was “not on the table”.

“It is impractical for a country that has already mastered this technology to reduce it to zero,” he said, citing the need for enriched uranium for peaceful civilian purposes such as in cancer treatment.

“Meanwhile, we are open to verification, and anybody is welcome to come and see [our facilities] for themselves.”

If the US did opt to attack Iran, as it did in a series of strikes targeting the country’s nuclear facilities in June as part of a 12-day war, then Tehran would respond by attacking US military bases in the region, Larijani said.

Before leaving Doha, Larijani also met with Muhammad Darwish, the head of Hamas’s Leadership Council, along with a senior delegation from the Palestinian group, to discuss the latest political developments in the region and Israel’s war on Gaza, Lebanon’s Al-Manar reported.