Iran to respond 'ferociously' to any US attack

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that any potential agreement must be balanced and based on mutual respect, ruling out arrangements that fail to address Iran’s core demands.

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Monday, Baghaei reiterated that any strike, even limited, would be "would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period".

"And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that's what we would do," Baqaei said.

Trump is wondering why Iran has not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military deployment, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News broadcast over the weekend.

Baqaei responded Monday by saying that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history.

“The word ‘surrender’ has no place in Iranian culture and literature, and we have never accepted such a keyword,” he said, stressing that the Iranian nation has consistently demonstrated that it does not yield to pressure.

The Iranian diplomat emphasized that over the past 47 years, the Iranian people’s demand has been for dignity, independence, and respect for the country’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation. Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday.

The U.S. has built up forces in the Middle East to pile pressure on Iran to make a deal at negotiations due to restart on Thursday, with Trump weighing a limited strike if no agreement is reached.