A spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s national security committee said that this week’s negotiations will determine whether US soldiers ‘go to hell or return home’
News Desk - The Cradle
“I think there is no limited strike,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a briefing.
“An act of aggression would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period. And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defense ferociously, so that’s what we would do,” he added.
He also rejected US claims that Iran seeks to stall the negotiations, vowing continued readiness for diplomacy as long as the talks “lead to results.”
A third round of indirect US–Iranian negotiations is scheduled to be held in Geneva on 26 February.
Washington continues to demand an end to the nuclear and missile programs, and that Tehran halt support for resistance groups in the region, which the Islamic Republic rejects.
Iran is only willing to discuss its nuclear program, but seeks to maintain the right to enrich uranium at some level.
“Thursday's talks are a test for Trump and will determine whether US soldiers go to hell or return home,” said the spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian parliament, Ebrahim Rezaei.
Western media reported recently that Trump may launch a “limited” strike to force Tehran into accepting US and Israeli terms, and would intensify strikes if Iran failed to agree. New York Times (NYT) said on 22 February that Trump will launch a small-scale strike then go for “regime change” later this year if Iran does not submit.
As the talks enter their third round this week, the region faces the largest US airpower buildup since the invasion of Iraq.
Last June, Israel launched a US-backed war on Iran in the middle of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. Iranian forces responded with ballistic missile and drone operations against Israel.
The Islamic Republic also struck Al-Udeid Base in Qatar – the US's largest base in the region – after Washington officially joined the war, bombing nuclear facilities in Iran.
Following the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in 2020, Iran fired ballistic missiles at the US Ain al-Asad base in Iraq.
Tehran is now warning that US assets and bases all across the region will be struck if Iran is attacked.
“Curious to know why we do not capitulate? Because we are Iranian,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Sunday, after US envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump was “curious” why Iran had not “capitulated” in the face of the US military buildup and pressure.
“All bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran's defensive response,” Iran’s UN mission said last week.
Hundreds of US troops have reportedly been evacuated from military bases in Bahrain and Qatar.
Trump recently gave Iran a 10 to 15-day deadline. Reports have said a US attack could come within days.
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