- Any attack, even a limited one, would be considered aggression: Iran.
- The EU calls for a diplomatic solution before talks.
- Talk schedule confirmed by Iran and Oman, but not by the United States.
Iran said on Monday that a US attack of any scale would prompt the Islamic republic to respond “ferociously”, after President Donald Trump said he was considering limited strikes against the country.
The United States has built up forces in the Middle East to pressure Iran to reach a deal in negotiations that resume Thursday, and Trump is weighing a limited strike if no deal is reached.
On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry reiterated that any attack, even a limited one, would be “considered an act of aggression. Period.”
“And any state would react fiercely to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right to self-defense, so that's what we would do,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by a AFP journalist.
The two countries on Tuesday concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland under the mediation of Oman.
More talks are planned for Thursday, confirmed by Iran and Oman, but not by the United States.
The European Union, which has been sidelined in mediation over Iran, called for a diplomatic solution before talks.
“We don't need another war in this region. We already have many,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“It is true that Iran is at its weakest point. We should really use this time to find a diplomatic solution.”
Fears of conflict
However, Iran has insisted that only discussions about the country's nuclear program are on the table in the mediation talks. The West believes the program is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the negotiations for Iran, while the United States is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump wonders why Iran hasn't “capitulated” to Washington's military deployment, Witkoff said in an interview with fox news aired over the weekend.
Baqaei responded on Monday by saying that the Iranians had never capitulated at any time in their history.
Trump had initially threatened military action over the violent crackdown on protests that human rights groups say led to the deaths of thousands of people at the hands of security forces, but his attention soon turned to Iran's nuclear program.
Scattered anti-government protests have continued in the country, despite the threat of repression and arrests.
Students rallied to commemorate those killed in rival pro- and anti-government demonstrations as the university semester resumed over the weekend.
Iranians' fears of a new conflict have increased and concerns have also led several foreign countries to urge their citizens to leave Iran.
On Monday, India joined Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia in asking its citizens, estimated at 10,000 in the country by the Ministry of External Affairs, to leave Iran.
