Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that he told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that Tehran is not seeking a conflict with the United States and any clash will do neither side any good, AFP reported.
According to a statement from the Iranian presidency, Pezeshkian made the comments during a call with al-Sisi.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region," he said.
Meanwhile, Iran's top security official said that progress had been made towards negotiations with the United States, even as the Islamic Republic's army chief warned Washington against launching military strikes.
"Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing," said Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Washington has deployed warships led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off Iran's shores, after US President Donald Trump threatened to intervene in the wake of Tehran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
On Friday, Trump spoke to reporters in the White House and hinted that he had given Iran an ultimatum to make a deal with the US.
Asked whether he is giving Iran a deadline to make a deal before potentially taking military action against them, Trump replied, "Only they know for sure."
To the question of whether he has communicated this to them directly, the President said, "Yeah, I have."
Trump also said, “We’ll see how it all works out, it’s a rough situation… a lot of people are being killed. I can say this, Iran wants to make a deal."
He once again noted the increased US military presence in the region, saying, “We have a tremendously powerful fleet there. We have the most powerful ships in the world."
Hours before Trump’s comments, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran is prepared to resume nuclear negotiations with the US, but warned that talks cannot proceed while Washington continues to threaten military action.
Araghchi stressed that Iran will not negotiate over its ballistic missile program and said the country is prepared for either outcome. "Iran is ready for both scenarios - war or diplomacy," he said.