Iran halts indirect talks with US as region tensions escalate

Tehran has halted indirect talks with Washington due to the escalating regional tension, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, as Israel continued to plan a retaliatory strike against his country.

“Currently, we do not see any ground for these talks, until we can get past the current crisis,” Araghchi said while visiting Oman, which has played an intermediary role in the talks. His comments were reported by Iranian state-owned news outlet Press TV.

“Oman has always contributed greatly to solving the regional problems; and regarding Iran and the US, it has always tried to play a positive role in conveying a message or preparing the ground for negotiations,” he said.

He underscored the importance of diplomacy, and said Tehran was not interested in further violence.

“Our position is crystal clear and we have repeated many times that we do not want war and conflict, although we are fully prepared for it. We think that diplomacy should work,” Araghchi said.

Just one day earlier, he had throated Israel and the United States, explaining that Tehran has “no redlines” when it came to responding to Israel.

Israel’s response to Iran's missile strike

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held security consultations in the Defense Ministry on Monday night, in which it was expected that Iran could be one of the topics. Israel is weighing the scope of a retaliatory attack for Iran’s ballistic missile strike against the Jewish state on October 1.

In preparation for a possible Iranian counterstrike, the Pentagon this week dispatched the anti-ballistic missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD), and a 100-member crew.

The US has sought a constrained Israeli response, but has prepared to help defend Israel against any Iranian response.

While in Oman, Araghchi spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Araghchi said that his country didn’t want to see the already existing regional conflict expand, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Yi also spoke Monday with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who told him that Iran’s attacks on the Jewish state could not go unanswered. In a post on X/Twitter, Katz said he emphasized to Yi that “Israel will respond [to] the Iranian attack” earlier this month.

“Iran is the primary source for undermining stability in the Middle East. Iran constitutes a threat, both through its proxies and directly, to the stability of the Middle East and to the stability of the entire world,” Katz explained.

“Iran attacked Israel with more than 180 ballistic missiles. No country could ignore such an attack,” he stressed.Yi said that China was “highly concerned about the tension between Israel and Iran,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

“We believe that further war and chaos in the region are not in the interests of any party. We hope that all parties will act prudently to avoid the situation falling into a vicious cycle,” Wang Yi said.

The international community, including China, has been worried about the possibility of an all-out war between Israel and Iran. China is one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. “We will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the cooling of the situation and restoring regional peace,” Wang Yi said.

Israel has been battling Iran and its proxies for the last year, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Iran has twice directly attacked Israel, once in April and again in October.