• Foreign minister instructed to pursue fair, equitable talks: Pezeshkian
• Says decision taken in light of requests from friendly governments.
• Iran’s supremo Khamenei warned of “regional war” if US attacks.
  

TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed on Tuesday that he had ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, after his counterpart Donald Trump threatened “bad things” if no deal was reached.

“In light of requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal by the President of the United States for negotiations….. 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,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.

The talks will be held “within the framework of our national interests”, he said.

Washington dispatched an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East following anti-government protests in Iran that peaked last month.

US President Trump has said he remains hopeful that Washington will “work something out” with Iran, but warned on Monday that “bad things would happen” if no deal is reached.

Tehran has insisted it wants diplomacy while vowing an unbridled response to any aggression.

It has repeatedly stressed that talks should remain focused solely on the nuclear issue, rejecting negotiations over its missile programme or defence capabilities.

In an interview with CNN broadcast on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a nuclear deal with the US was achievable.

“So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapon,” he said.

“So if that is the case, I am confident that we can achieve a deal,” he added.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has warned of a “regional war” if the US attacked his country.

Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, following a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, according to six current and former officials.

In high-level meetings, officials told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that public anger over last month’s crackdown — the bloodiest since the 1979 revolution — has reached a point where fear is no longer a deterrent, four current officials briefed on the discussions said.

The officials said Khamenei was told that many Iranians were prepared to confront security forces again and that external pressure such as a limited US strike could embolden them and inflict irreparable damage to the political establishment.

One of the officials told Reuters that Iran’s enemies were seeking more protests so as to bring the Islamic Republic to an end, and “unfortunately” there would be more violence if an uprising took place.

“An attack combined with demonstrations by angry people could lead to a collapse (of the ruling system).

That is the main concern among the top officials, and that is what our enemies want,” said the official, who like the other officials contacted for this story declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The reported remarks are significant because they suggest private misgivings inside the leadership at odds with Tehran’s defiant public stance towards the protesters and the US.

The sources declined to say how Khamenei responded. Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this account of the meetings.

Multiple sources told Reuters last week that US President Donald Trump is weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces and leaders to inspire protesters, even as Israeli and Arab officials said air power alone would not topple the clerical rulers.

People extremely angry

Any such uprising in the wake of a US strike would stand in contrast to the Iranians’ response to Israeli and US bombing attacks on Iran’s nuclear programme back in June, which was not followed by anti-government demonstrations.

But a former senior moderate official said the situation had changed since the crackdown in early January.

“People are extremely angry,” he said, adding a US attack could lead Iranians to rise up again. “The wall of fear has collapsed. There is no fear left.”

Tensions between Tehran and Washington are running high. The arrival of a US aircraft carrier and supporting warships in the Middle East has expanded Trump’s ability to take military action if he so wishes, after repeatedly threatening intervention over Iran’s bloody crackdown.

Game over, says former PM

Several opposition figures, who were part of the establishment before falling out with it, have warned the leadership that “boiling public anger” could result in a collapse of the system.

“The river of warm blood that was spilled on the cold month of January will not stop boiling until it changes the course of history,” former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest without trial since 2011, said in a statement published by the pro-reform Kalameh website.

“In what language should people say they do not want this system and do not believe your lies? Enough is enough. The game is over’,” Mousavi added in the statement.

During the early January protests, witnesses and rights groups said, security forces crushed demonstrations with lethal force, leaving thousands killed and many wounded.

Tehran blamed the violence on “armed terrorists” linked to Israel and the US.

Trump stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene but he has since demanded Iran make nuclear concessions.

Both Tehran and Washington have signalled readiness to revive diplomacy over a long-running nuclear dispute.

Danger of bloodshed

Analysts and insiders say that while the streets are quiet for now, deep-seated grievances have not gone away.

Public frustration has been simmering over economic decline, political repression, a widening gulf between rich and poor, and entrenched corruption that leaves many Iranians feeling trapped in a system offering neither relief nor a path forward.

“This may not be the end, but it is no longer just the beginning,” said Hossein Rassam, a London-based analyst.

If protests resume during mounting foreign pressure and security forces respond with force, the six current and former officials said they fear demonstrators would be bolder than in previous unrest, emboldened by experience and driven by a sense that they have little left to lose.

One of the officials told Reuters that while people were angrier than before, the establishment would use harsher methods against protesters if it were under US attack. He said the result would be a bloodbath.

Ordinary Iranians contacted by Reuters said they expected Iran’s rulers to crack down hard on any further protests.

A Tehran resident whose 15-year-old son was killed in the protests on January 9 said the demonstrators had merely sought a normal life, and had been answered “with bullets.”

“If America attacks, I will go back to the streets to take revenge for my son and the children this regime killed.”

WASHINGTON: Bill and Hillary Clinton will testify in a US House investigation surrounding deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesman for the ex-president said, heading off a potential vote to hold the couple in contempt.

They had originally refused to appear before lawmakers examining how authorities handled earlier investigations into the disgraced financier, who had connections and correspondence with the world’s business and political elite.

“The former President and former Secretary of State will be there. They look forward to setting a precedent that applies to everyone,” Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said on X.

The House Rules Committee had advanced resolutions accusing the Clintons of defying subpoenas to appear in person to explain their links to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019.

The Epstein affair continues to cast a long shadow over Washington, entangling some of the most prominent names in US politics and highlighting the sharp partisan battles that have shaped the scandal.

Democrats say the probe is being weaponised to attack political opponents of President Donald Trump — himself a longtime Epstein associate who has not been called to testify — rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.

Trump spent months trying to block the disclosure of investigative files linked to Epstein, who moved in elite circles for years, cultivating ties with billionaires, politicians, academics and celebrities.

Democratic divisions

Neither Trump nor the Clintons have been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein۔s activities.

In letters where they initially refused to appear in Washington, the Clintons had argued that the subpoenas were invalid because they lacked a clear legislative purpose.

Republicans say the Democratic couple’s past links to the business tycoon, including Bill Clinton۔s use of his private jet in the early 2000s, justify in-person questioning under oath.

Instead, the couple submitted sworn written statements describing their knowledge of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

Bill Clinton acknowledged flying on Epstein´s plane for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited his private island.

Hillary Clinton said she had no meaningful interactions with Epstein, never flew on his plane and never visited his island.

After the Clintons agreed to testify, the Rules Committee decided Monday evening to suspend for the time being its vote on the contempt proceedings.

The vote and its targeting of the Clintons could have exposed divisions among congressional Democrats.

Some Democrats have privately acknowledged that their party has long argued no one should be beyond scrutiny in efforts to uncover the full scope of Epstein’s crimes.

But others feared that advancing the contempt resolutions would have played into a partisan strategy to shift attention away from Trump´s past contacts with Epstein.

The Justice Department released last week what it said would be the final batch of files related to the investigation into Epstein.