Iran's Pezeshkian calls for equal footing in US talks amid rising tensions

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said over the weekend that his country is open to dialogue with the U.S. but only if the two nations are on an “equal footing.”

His comments come amid President Trump’s push for a diplomatic deal between America and Iran to limit Iran’s nuclear program, according to Washington Times. Mr. Trump laid out a May deadline to reach such an agreement. If not, he’s left open the possibility of military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

But Mr. Pezeshkian appeared to close the door to talks with the U.S. unless the Trump administration changes its approach.

“The Islamic Republic wants dialogue from an equal position, not that they want to negotiate with Iran on the one hand and threaten it on the other,” he said, according to Iranian state-run media.

“If you want negotiations, what is the point of threatening?” Mr. Pezeshkian said. “Today, America is not only humiliating Iran, but the rest of the world as its behavior contradicts the call for negotiations.”

The Iranian president’s comments came around the same time that suspected U.S. airstrikes on Saturday targeted Yemen’s Houthi rebels, an Iran-backed group that has targeted commercial and American military ships in and around the Red Sea for the past 18 months.