Iran says it will answer any attack but cannot abandon diplomacy, a day after Hegseth's Israel visit

Update, 1:08pm GMT Tuesday: Three senior Iranian officials and a source close to the leadership told Reuters that Tehran is drawing out talks with the United States partly to weaken President Donald Trump politically before the 3 November US midterm elections, and that fear of renewed strikes and distrust of Washington have made it reluctant to formalise a deal quickly. “Iran is preparing for renewed attacks from Israel and the United States, not for an agreement to end the war,” one senior official said, according to Reuters. Separately, the navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday that two oil tankers had caught fire and been stopped after hitting naval mines in a passage south of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night. It called the vessels “violators” using an illegal route and did not identify them or report casualties, Iran International and Xinhua reported. Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, Dawn and The National reported. Mr Baghaei said talks with him “relate to issues concerning the negotiations, but they are mainly focused on bilateral relations”, Dawn reported, citing AFP.

Iran will respond to any attack on its territory, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at his weekly press briefing in Tehran on Tuesday 20 October, a day after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

Asked about a report that Washington had asked Tehran not to retaliate if the US strikes the underground Pickaxe Mountain site, Mr Baghaei said: “We will absolutely not leave any attack unanswered,” Iran International reported. CGTN, citing Iranian reports, carried the same remark.

Mr Baghaei also said Iran could not give up on diplomacy. “The United States’ record of breaking agreements is clear, but we are not allowed to abandon our duties or diplomacy because of bitter past experiences,” he said, according to Iran International. He said Iran was not negotiating with Washington on the nuclear issue and that nuclear talks had not been discussed during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Tehran on Monday, which he described as planned in advance.

According to Al Masirah’s account of the briefing, Mr Baghaei said the US “confuses negotiations with dictating terms”, rejected allegations of nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain, and said Iran’s contacts with the International Atomic Energy Agency continue through normal channels with no new developments.

Background: US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran in late February. President Donald Trump said last week the US “may have to go” to Pickaxe Mountain, according to Reuters, and has said any decision on further action could come after November’s midterm elections. Three Israeli officials told Reuters that Mr Hegseth and Mr Netanyahu discussed Iran on Monday; the Pentagon declined to comment.

Related coverage: Hegseth discussed Iran with Netanyahu during unannounced visit to Israel, officials say. See also: Lavrov in Tehran.