Iranian officials rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to annihilate Iran while also signalling that Tehran still sees diplomacy as a route out of the conflict.
Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff described Trump’s threat as a sign of strategic desperation rather than strength and warned of a severe response to further attacks. The statement represents Iran’s official position and does not independently establish what military action would follow.
Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said dialogue was the most effective way to address threats and reiterated that Iran had conveyed its conditions for renewed talks to the United States through Qatari mediation. Those conditions include an end to fighting on all fronts, an end to the U.S. naval blockade and economic pressure, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
Baghaei also said any new safe-shipping arrangement through the Strait of Hormuz would need to be determined by Iran and Oman. Tehran has suggested that a new Hormuz framework could form part of negotiations, but no final agreement or full reopening arrangement has been announced.
The comments came as U.S.-Iran contacts resumed in New York through mediators, with both governments combining hard public rhetoric with continued diplomatic engagement.