Iran deems US talks ‘pointless’ following Israeli strike, still undecided on participation

TEHRAN: Iran said talks with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program were “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longtime foe, but said it had yet to decide whether to attend the talks scheduled for Sunday.

State media quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai as saying on Saturday that “the other side (the United States) acted in a way that makes the talks meaningless. You cannot claim to be negotiating and at the same time divide the work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iranian soil.”

“It is not yet clear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghai was quoted as saying.

He said Israel had “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and that an Israeli strike would not have taken place without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.

Iran has previously accused the United States of involvement in the Israeli attacks, but Washington denied the accusation, telling Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to discuss its nuclear program.

The sixth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was due to take place in Muscat on Sunday, but it was unclear whether they would move forward after the Israeli strikes.

Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli accusations that it is secretly building nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team knew the Israeli attacks were coming but still saw scope for a deal.