Iran's Foreign Minister Signals Openness to Indirect Talks With US

Iran's foreign minister said indirect talks with the United States remain the only viable path to resolving the standoff between the two countries, according to state media, as Tehran continues to signal a degree of openness to diplomacy even as tensions persist.

The comments came as Iran's navy separately announced that it had captured a United States underwater drone and was analyzing the data it contained. Iranian officials did not immediately provide further detail on where or when the drone was seized, or what information it may have yielded.

Diplomatic track

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States have proceeded intermittently in recent months, often mediated by third countries, as both sides have avoided direct negotiations. Iran's foreign minister reiterated that this indirect format continues to be the primary channel available to address the impasse.

Officials in Tehran have repeatedly cast indirect diplomacy as a pragmatic option given the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two governments. The foreign minister's latest remarks suggest Iran does not currently see grounds for abandoning that approach, even as friction over other issues, including maritime incidents, continues.

Drone claim

The Iranian navy's claim regarding the underwater drone adds another point of friction to the relationship. Such unmanned underwater vehicles are typically used for surveillance, mapping or intelligence-gathering in contested waters, including the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian and American forces have had a series of tense encounters in recent years.

Neither Iranian state media nor US officials have confirmed additional specifics about the incident, including the drone's origin point or the circumstances of its capture. The Iranian navy said only that it was in the process of examining the data associated with the device.

The dual developments underscore the mixed signals characterizing US-Iran relations, with diplomatic channels remaining open even as military and maritime tensions persist in the region.