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Iran's President said connected Tuesday (February 3, 2026) helium instructed the country's overseas curate to "pursue just and equitable negotiations" with the United States, the archetypal wide motion from Tehran it wants to effort to negociate arsenic tensions stay precocious with Washington aft the Mideast country's bloody crackdown connected nationwide protests past month.
The announcement came arsenic a U.S. Navy combatant pitchy changeable down an Iranian drone that was approaching an American craft bearer aboriginal Tuesday morning. The Iranian Mission to the UN did not instantly remark connected the incident. The U.S. subject announced the downing of the drone connected Tuesday (February 3, 2026) evening.
White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said Trump peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff has been readying to clasp talks with Iranian officials successful Turkey aboriginal this week, and the talks are inactive scheduled contempt the drone incident. It was the archetypal nonstop acknowledgment of the talks by the White House.
"President Trump is ever wanting to prosecute diplomacy first, but evidently it takes 2 to tango," Leavitt said. "You request a consenting spouse to execute diplomacy and that's thing that peculiar envoy Witkoff is intent connected exploring and discussing." The displacement toward negotiations marked a large crook for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who had broadly warned Iranians for weeks that the turmoil successful his state had gone beyond his control. It besides signals that the president received enactment from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for talks that the 86-year-old cleric antecedently had dismissed.
Turkey attempting to broker negotiations
Turkey has been moving down the scenes to marque the talks hap determination aboriginal this week arsenic U.S. Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling successful the region. A Turkish authoritative aboriginal said the determination of talks was uncertain but that Turkey was acceptable to enactment the process.
Foreign Ministers from Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates person besides been invited to be the talks, if they happen, according to the authoritative who spoke connected information of anonymity arsenic they did not person support to talk to journalists.
But whether Iran and the U.S. tin scope an statement remains to beryllium seen, peculiarly arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump present has included Iran's atomic programme successful a database of demands from Tehran successful immoderate talks. Mr. Trump ordered the bombing of 3 Iranian atomic sites during the 12-day warfare Israel launched against Iran successful June.
On Tuesday (February 3, 2026), Mr. Araghchi spoke by telephone with his counterparts from Oman, Qatar, Turkey and Kuwait, but did not notation a imaginable venue.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Iranian authorities TV that the talks are inactive expected to hap successful the adjacent fewer days but that the details, including wherever it volition instrumentality place, is inactive being discussed. Oman, Turkey, and different determination countries person each offered to big negotiations.
U.S. shoots down drone
U.S. Central Command said the drone "aggressively approached" the craft bearer connected Tuesday (February 3, 2026), with "unclear intent" and it "continued to alert toward the vessel contempt deescalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating successful planetary waters." The Shahed-139 drone was changeable down by an F-35C combatant pitchy from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was sailing astir 805 kilometres from Iran's confederate coast, Central Command spokesperson Capt Tim Hawkins said. The incidental took spot conscionable earlier sunrise, helium told The AP.
In a abstracted incidental aboriginal Tuesday (February 3, 2026), Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces harassed a merchant vas flying the American emblem and carrying an American crew, Hawkins said.
Two boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the ship, Stena Imperative, "at precocious speeds and threatened to committee and prehend the tanker," Hawkins' connection said.
The destroyer USS McFaul responded and escorted the Stena Imperative with antiaircraft aerial support, the connection said, adding that the merchant vas was present sailing safely.
Khamenei advisor speaks connected the atomic contented
Late Monday (February 2, 2026), the pan-Arab outer transmission Al Mayadeen, which is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant radical Hezbollah, aired an interrogation with Ali Shamkhani, a apical Khamenei advisor connected security.
He suggested that if the talks happened, they would beryllium indirect astatine the beginning, and determination to nonstop talks lone if a woody appeared to beryllium attainable. Direct talks with the U.S. agelong person been a highly charged governmental contented wrong Iran's theocracy, with reformists similar Mr. Pezeshkian pushing for them and hard-liners dismissing them.
The talks would solely absorption connected atomic issues, helium added.
