February 4, 2026 | 06:49 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he'd instructed his foreign minister to "pursue fair and equitable negotiations" with the United States (US) on some kind of nuclear accord to succeed the one President Donald Trump canceled in his first term.
Pezeshkian made no mention of the widespread unrest in Iran in recent weeks and his regime's sometimes violent crackdown, or the tensions with the US, which were further exemplified by small incidents at sea on later in the day.
The US, Arab states and Turkey have been pushing to arrange fresh talks with Iran amid the domestic protests.
What Presidents Pezeshkian and Trump said about possible talks
"I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency," Pezeshkian wrote in English on social media.
He said this was in light of "requests from friendly governments in the region for talks."
The US, regional powers and at times European countries have been trying to push the government in Tehran into talks on and off for more than a year now. Turkey had indicated a willingness to host the latest round.
On Monday, Trump had said that with large US warships heading to Iran, "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached. The US president's messages to Iran have been somewhat mixed, with him on the one hand pushing for talks and a deal with the government, while also saying that "help is on the way" in messages addressed to protesters at the height of the public protests.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday that talks were scheduled for later in the week, echoing off the record comments from Turkish and Arab sources to news agencies. Precise details on when or where were not forthcoming.
Maritime incidents off Iran's coastline raise tensions
Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said late on Tuesday that its forces had shot down an Iranian Shahed 139 drone that was approaching a US aircraft carrier in waters off Iran.
"An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board," US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement.
Shaheds are small drones typically used for intelligence-gathering and reconnaissance. CENTCOM said the ship was some 800 kilometers (roughly 500 miles) off Iran's southern coast.
Later the same day, CENTCOM and maritime shipping agencies reported Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps troops harrassing a US-flagged merchant vessel, the Stena Imperative. The military said two boats and drones approached the vessel "at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker."
European IRGC terrorist designation upsets Tehran
Iran's government was angered last week by the EU following through on a longstanding threat to designate the country's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.
This decision was taken in no small part as the result of the repression of recent public protests and the reports of thousands being killed by Iranian security forces in the ensuing crackdown. Communications are still stymied and reporters largely banned, but reports of at least isolated unrest persist.
Given that it sees the force as the primary branch of its regular military, the government in Tehran subsequently classified European armies as terrorist groups.
Read: Iran's Khamenei Warns U.S.: Any Attack Could Spark 'Regional War'
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