A senior Iranian official said Monday that any upcoming nuclear negotiations with the United States could be productive only if held “away from an atmosphere of threats and illogical demands."

US war rhetoric against Iran is driven less by national interest and more by corporate power, with the country’s oil and gas firmly in the crosshairs amid escalating US military threats, says an analyst.

Former CIA director Mike Pompeo has admitted that Washington played a direct role in recent violent riots in Iran, saying the United States “directly helped” the rioters.

In late December, Iran faced nationwide protests due to economic pressure; foreign interference, particularly from the US, led to unrest escalating into violent riots, with acts of terrorism and arson perpetrated against the nation.

George Bush’s infamous 2002 “axis of evil” speech entrenched US hostility toward Iran, which was followed by decades of sanctions, propaganda, and military threats, now upheld by the Trump-Netanyahu alliance.

The deputy commander-in-chief of the IRGC says Iran’s defense advancements have fundamentally altered the strategic landscape, making the cost-benefit analysis of any military aggression against the country “extremely complex and high-risk” for adversaries.

President Pezeshkian has warned that American military movements and rhetoric in West Asia are part of a calculated effort to destabilize the region.