Trump-Iran live: Tehran says it is ready for negotiations with US but not under ‘shadow of threats’

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a call on Friday that Turkey was ready to play a facilitator role between Iran and the United States to ease the tensions between the two sides.

“President Erdogan emphasised that Turkey was ready to take up a facilitator role between Iran and the United States to ease tensions and resolve issues,” the presidency said in a statement on X.

It added that Erdogan would also receive Iran’s foreign minister, who is visiting Turkey for talks with his Turkish counterpart.

The Independent’s political correspondent Athena Stavrou reports:

Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK and its allies need to “deal with” Iran amid its ongoing deadly crackdown on protesters.

On his visit to China, Sir Keir said the repression of demonstrators was “grotesque” and “that is where our focus is”.

US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on the country in recent days, warning that time is running out to agree a deal on its nuclear programme and called for an end to the “senseless killing”.

The UK prime minister also said the UK supports “the goal” of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, but stopped short of explicitly backing US military action in the region.

“The goal or the aim here is that Iran shouldn’t be able to develop nuclear weapons and that is hugely important and, of course, we need to deal with the fact they are repressing protesters, killing protesters,” he told the BBC.

“It is grotesque what is happening so that is where our focus is and we are working with allies to that end.”

Pressed on whether Britain would support another US strike on the country, he said: “I am saying we support the goal and we are talking to allies about how we get to that goal.”

Earlier, we heard from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in a joint press conference.

Iran is prepared for the resumption of talks with the United States, but negotiations should be “fair and equitable”, Mr Araghchi said.

Araghchi, who described his talks with Hakan Fidan in Istanbul as “good and useful”, also said that Tehran was ready to engage with regional countries to promote stability and peace.

Mr Fidan, meanwhile, said he had spoken with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday and that he will continue speaking to US officials on Iran.

He said he hoped a solution could be found to avoid conflict and the isolation of Iran.

Oil prices slipped more than 1 per cent this morning from multi-month highs, though they are set for their most substantial gains in years, as the risk premium surged due to a potential US attack on Iran that could disrupt supplies.

Brent crude futures fell 91 cents to $69.80 a barrel after rising 3.4 per cent to close at its highest point since 31 July yesterday.

The March contract expires later today. The more active April contract slid $1.07 to $68.52.

US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.06 to $64.36 a barrel after gaining 3.4 per cent to settle at its highest level since 26 September in the previous session.

The US on Friday imposed sanctions on Iranian interior minister Eskandar Momeni and a businessman it said helped launder money for Tehran, as Donald Trump’s administration ramps up pressure on the Islamic Republic.

The Department of the Treasury said Momeni was responsible for a brutal security crackdown in Iran this month as he oversees law enforcement forces it said were responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters.

The financial sanctions on Friday also targeted five other Iranian security officials involved in “violently repressing the Iranian people”, the Treasury said in a statement.

Sanctions were also issued against investor Babak Zanjani and two digital asset exchanges registered in Britain that the Treasury said had processed funds linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “Like rats on a sinking ship, the regime is frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, Treasury will act.”

Trump may be very proud of his ‘armada’ off the coast of Iran but the US president could look good, back a winner, and support his allies by leaving Tehran alone and helping Ukraine win instead, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley.

Yemen’s Iran‑aligned Houthi paramilitary has removed critical telecommunications equipment belonging to the UN, the global body said on Friday, warning that further restrictions on its work would fuel a worsening humanitarian crisis

The Houthis, who control areas in north Yemen, entered at least six unstaffed UN offices in the capital Sanaa and took telecommunications equipment and several vehicles to an unknown location, the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Julien Harneis, said in a statement.

“This equipment is part of the minimum infrastructure needed by the United Nations to be present and to implement programmes,” said Harneis.

The UN has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen with some 21 million people needing aid.

Iran’s foreign minister announced that his country is ready to resolve tensions but that there are no concrete plans for talks with the US.

Abbas Araghchi spoke in Istanbul on Friday for talks with Turkish officials. Ankara has been working to reduce tensions in the wider region following threats of a possible US military strike against Iran.

Mr Araghchi told reporters during a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that Iran has no plans to “meet with the Americans”.

“We are ready for fair and equitable negotiations,” he said. “For such negotiations, arrangements must first be made, both regarding the form of the talks and the location of the talks, and about the topic of the talks.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, just as it is ready for negotiations, it is also ready for war,” Mr Araghchi added.

Turkey opposes a military intervention against Iran, warning such an action would lead to regional instability.

“We are against resorting to military options to solve problems, and we do not believe that this will be very effective,” Mr Fidan said. “We advocate for negotiation and diplomacy.”

Iran’s reaction to any US action will not be limited, an Iranian military spokesperson has warned.

A decisive response, he said, would be “delivered instantly”.

Speaking to Iranian state television, brigadier general Mohammad Akraminia said US aircraft carriers have “serious vulnerabilities”.

Several US bases in the Gulf region are “within the range of our medium-range missiles”, he added according to Le Monde.

“If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way Trump imagines – carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over.”