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Iran: No Signs Trump Administration Is Serious about Holding Talks

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei speaks to reporters in Tehran. (Iran Foreign Ministry)
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei speaks to reporters in Tehran. (Iran Foreign Ministry)
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Iran: No Signs Trump Administration Is Serious about Holding Talks

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei speaks to reporters in Tehran. (Iran Foreign Ministry)
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei speaks to reporters in Tehran. (Iran Foreign Ministry)

Iran on Monday said it doubts the US was serious about conducting negotiations, asserting that it will defend its nuclear program and will not allow any compromise on the matter.

Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US statements cannot be taken seriously. “You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other hand,” he said, according to the Mehr news agency.

US President Donald Trump has expressed an openness to a deal with Tehran to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but he said Israel will likely attempt to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In response, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that if Iran’s enemies strike a hundred nuclear facilities, his country will build a thousand other ones.

US intelligence agencies have recently concluded that Israel is considering “significant strikes” on Iran's nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025, taking advantage of Iran’s weakened state.

Analysts say Tehran will be forced to negotiate with Trump, with the downfall of its key ally, the Assad regime in Syria, and the severe weakening of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem and said their countries were determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East.

Asked whether the Trump administration supports an Israeli strike on Iran, Rubio told CBS News: “Israel will always have to act in what they believe is their national interest and their national defense.”

And whether Washington was reaching out to Tehran, he replied: “I will say that we don't have any outreach from Iran. We haven't seen any. There's been zero outreach or interest to date from Iran about any negotiated deal.”

Earlier, US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said Trump is absolutely serious about preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, adding that “all options are on the table.”

Waltz told Fox News on Sunday that Trump is willing to engage in talks with Tehran only on condition that it fully abandon its nuclear program.

Responding to Waltz’ comments, Baghaei said: “Iran's peaceful nuclear program is ongoing, and has been for the last three decades, based on Iran's rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons... definitely we will not show any weakness in this regard.”

“Threatening others is a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter,” he added, saying that Israel and the US “cannot do anything” to hurt Iran.

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World

Suspect in Mass Shooting at Sydney Jewish Festival Appears in Court 

Ben Archbold, legal aid solicitor for accused Bondi shooter Naveed Akram, speaks to the media outside the Downing Centre in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)
Ben Archbold, legal aid solicitor for accused Bondi shooter Naveed Akram, speaks to the media outside the Downing Centre in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)
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Suspect in Mass Shooting at Sydney Jewish Festival Appears in Court 

Ben Archbold, legal aid solicitor for accused Bondi shooter Naveed Akram, speaks to the media outside the Downing Centre in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)
Ben Archbold, legal aid solicitor for accused Bondi shooter Naveed Akram, speaks to the media outside the Downing Centre in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)

A man accused of killing 15 people in a mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney's Bondi Beach appeared in court Monday for the first time since his release from the hospital.

Naveed Akram appeared in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court via a video link from the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Center 200 kilometers (120 miles) away.

He did not enter pleas to the charges against him, including murder and committing a terrorist act. The brief court appearance focused on extending a gag order that suppresses the identities of victims and survivors of the attack who have not chosen to identify themselves publicly.

Defense lawyer Ben Archbold told reporters outside court that Akram was doing as well as could be expected and it was too early to indicate any intention of pleas.

Akram, 24, was wounded and his father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed in a gunbattle with police after the attack on a Hanukkah celebration at the beach Dec. 14.

The younger Akram is next scheduled to appear in court April 9.

The police investigation is one of three official inquiries examining Australia’s worst alleged terrorist attack and the nation’s worst mass shooting in 29 years.

One involves the interactions between law enforcement and intelligence agencies before the attack that was allegedly inspired by the ISIS group.

World

Araghchi Says Iran Has ‘Real Ideas’ to Achieve ‘Fair Deal,’ Rejects Threats

08 February 2026, Iran, Teheran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during his weekly press conference in Tehran. Photo: Foad Ashtari/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
08 February 2026, Iran, Teheran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during his weekly press conference in Tehran. Photo: Foad Ashtari/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Araghchi Says Iran Has ‘Real Ideas’ to Achieve ‘Fair Deal,’ Rejects Threats

08 February 2026, Iran, Teheran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during his weekly press conference in Tehran. Photo: Foad Ashtari/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
08 February 2026, Iran, Teheran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during his weekly press conference in Tehran. Photo: Foad Ashtari/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Geneva on Monday ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States, saying he had “real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal.”

According to Tehran, "indirect" Iran-US nuclear talks mediated by Oman will be held on Tuesday, although Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed including Iran's ballistic missiles and support for regional proxies.

Tehran and Washington restarted negotiations this month after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June.

Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran's stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of 60-percent enriched uranium that was last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June.

During his visit to Geneva, Araghchi is expected to hold talks with his Swiss and Omani counterparts as well as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, and other international officials, Iran's foreign ministry said.

Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House confirmed on Sunday.

The latest talks follow repeated threats from Trump of military action against Tehran, first over Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, and then more recently over the country's nuclear program.

“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats,” Araghchi said on X.

On February 6, Araghchi led the Iranian delegation in indirect talks with Witkoff and Kushner in Muscat.

Iranian deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said Tehran was seeking a deal with the United States that would generate economic benefits for both countries, particularly in sectors such as aviation, mining and oil and gas, the Fars news agency reported.

"For the agreement to be viable, it is essential that the United States also be able to benefit from it in areas with strong and rapid economic return potential," he was quoted as saying.

World

NKorea Opens Housing District for Families of Soldiers Killed in Russia-Ukraine War

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second right, attends a completion ceremony of the new street, called Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second right, attends a completion ceremony of the new street, called Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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NKorea Opens Housing District for Families of Soldiers Killed in Russia-Ukraine War

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second right, attends a completion ceremony of the new street, called Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second right, attends a completion ceremony of the new street, called Saeppyol Street in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea said Monday it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, the latest effort by leader Kim Jong Un to honor the war dead.

According to The Associated Press, state media photos showed Kim Jong Un walking through the new street — called Saeppyol Street — and visiting the homes of some of the families with his increasingly prominent daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, as he pledged to repay the “young martyrs” who “sacrificed all to their motherland.”

In recent months, North Korea has intensified propaganda glorifying troops deployed to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, such as establishing a memorial wall and building a museum. Analysts see it as an effort to bolster internal unity and curb potential public discontent.

Kim in recent months has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and missiles, to fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, as the leaders align in the face of their separate confrontations with Washington.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers last week it estimated 6,000 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded during their deployment in the war, but did not provide a breakdown of fatalities. The agency said last year it believed roughly 600 had died.

The spy agency believes North Korean forces are gaining modern combat experience and Russian technical support that could improve the performance of their weapons systems, according to lawmakers who attended last week’s closed-door briefing.

The construction of the new street comes as North Korea prepares to open a major ruling party congress later this month, where Kim is expected to announce his major goals in domestic and foreign policy over the next five years and take further steps to tighten his control.