Trump says Iran wants to negotiate after US show of force
US President Donald Trump said Iran now wants to negotiate a deal after the US strikes on its nuclear sites in June, arguing that renewed US military strength had changed Tehran’s stance.
US President Donald Trump said Iran now wants to negotiate a deal after the US strikes on its nuclear sites in June, arguing that renewed US military strength had changed Tehran’s stance.
“Iran is a different place” after the June strikes, Trump said aboard his plane en route to Florida on Friday. “Iran wants to negotiate a deal, too. Everybody wants to negotiate with us now.” He said this shift would not have happened “if we didn’t have military strength, if we didn’t rebuild our military in my first term.” He added that there had been “tremendous interest” in the Abraham Accords “since we put Iran out of business.”
The comments came a day after a senior aide in Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office outlined strict conditions under which talks with the United States could take place. Mehdi Fazaeli said negotiations were “not absolutely forbidden” if they were tightly controlled and served Iran’s higher interests, while stressing what he called deep mistrust of Washington.
Fazaeli said Khamenei had at times allowed narrow contacts on Iraq, Afghanistan and nuclear issues, but rejected talks that could be seen as retreat. Negotiations collapsed after Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran in June, followed by US attacks on nuclear facilities that killed hundreds of civilians and military personnel.
The UN nuclear watchdog said this week it has been unable to check Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile for five months. Before June, it had confirmed Iran held about 440 kilograms enriched to 60 percent.
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote to the UN chief this week saying Trump had publicly admitted to directing Israel’s initial strikes and urged the United Nations to seek reparations from Washington.
Though other Iranian women have led youth ensembles or smaller groups, Faryousefi achieved a major breakthrough.
The violinist, trained at Tehran's Music Conservatory and Armenia's Komitas State Conservatory, drew inspiration from conductors Aram Gharabekian and Stanislav Kochanovsky.
As concertmaster of the Tehran Philharmonic and a composer, she helmed the "Land of Simurgh" program with works by Iranian composers Aftab Darvishi and Golfam Khayam, plus Schumann, Sibelius, and Khachaturian.
"Art belongs to humanity, not to men and women," Faryousefi said after the performances, underscoring the milestone for women artists.
The concerts highlight a cultural flux in Iran.
"Woman, Life, Freedom" protests against the theocracy's mandatory hijab were crushed with deadly force, but further draconian legislation and much enforcement has lapsed as authorities seek to avoid unrest.
Women presence
Apart from Faryousefi, two other women have conducted orchestras in Iran. Nazanin Aghakhani led the Tehran Youth Orchestra in 2014, and Nezhat Amiri directed a 71-member ensemble in Tehran in 2018.
Vienna-born Aghakhani has a history of conducting orchestras in various countries, was invited to Iran in 2011 on the recommendation of Loris Tjeknavorian to lead the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. She was scheduled for four performances but was denied public performance permits.
Tjeknavorian is an Iranian-Armenian composer and conductor who is renowned for symphonies, operas and leading orchestras like the Armenian Philharmonic.
“An American author said: 'Remove the hijab, and you've effectively joined Mossad operations.' I urge all women to consider their faith and country,” Ahmad Khatami said at a prayer gathering on the Islamic holy day of the week.
Khatami went on to say half of those defying the mandatory headscarf need to come back to Shi'ite Islam.
"Unveiled women fall into two groups: adversaries whom the law confronts, and Shi'ite well-wishers who must align with Fatima Camp. I implore all women to prioritize their faith and nation,” Khatami said.
Fatima al-Zahra, daughter of Prophet Muhammad, wife of Ali the first Shiite Imam holds unparalleled status as the only woman in the Prophet's infallible household, making her central to Shiite theology and devotion.
Visible change
Despite mounting threats, civil resistance to the mandatory hijab persists, with many women appearing in public without it to reject the policy.
Enforcement has slackened and a draconian new law on veiling was paused.
While political and espionage arrests have mounted along with executions, authorities have tamped down on veiling as social and economic pressures mount in Iran.
Women and girls in Iran have increasingly defied the mandatory headscarf since the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement, sparked by the death of young Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in 2022.
Critics argue the state’s expanding enforcement apparatus shows that the priority is social control rather than easing economic hardship.
