Iran warns diplomacy at risk ahead of Netanyahu's US trip

Iran warned on Tuesday of “destructive” influence on diplomacy ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington for talks expected to focus on US negotiations with Tehran.

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“Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

“The Zionist regime has repeatedly, as a saboteur, shown that it opposes any diplomatic process in our region that leads to peace.”

Tehran and Washington resumed talks in Muscat on Friday, months after earlier negotiations collapsed following Israel's unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June, which triggered a 12-day war.

The United States later joined the campaign, launching its own strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel and by targeting the largest US military base in the Middle East, located in Qatar.

“The June experience was a very bad experience. Therefore, taking these experiences into account, we are determined to secure Iran's national interests through diplomacy,” Baqaei added.

He said Friday's discussions addressed general topics, adding that it “was not a long meeting” but was “to measure the seriousness of the other side”.