Iran’s foreign minister said the missile program was off the table as Trump said he would send more ships to the region.

Iran’s foreign minister says the country is ready for “fair and just” negotiations with the United States amid heightened tensionsUS President Donald Trump refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi told reporters during a visit to Türkiye on Friday that “Iran has no problem with negotiations, but negotiations cannot be conducted under the shadow of threats.”

“I should also make it clear that Iran’s defense and missile capabilities and Iran’s missiles will never be the subject of any negotiations,” Araghchi told a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

“The security of the Iranian people is no one else’s business, and we will preserve and expand our defense capabilities to the extent necessary to defend our country.”

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been rising for weeks Trump has repeatedly threatened It has attacked Iran for its recent crackdown on anti-government protests and its push to limit its nuclear program.

Earlier this week, U.S. President explain A “vast fleet” led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is heading toward Iran, prepared to use “violence if necessary” if Iranian leaders do not agree to negotiate a nuclear deal.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that his administration was sending “more ships” to Iran.

“Hopefully we can reach a deal,” he said. “If we do make a deal, that’s great. If we don’t, we’ll see what happens.”

Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Hackett, reporting from Washington, D.C., noted that Trump said he gave Iran a deadline, but “only Iran knows what that deadline is.”

“So he kept the world waiting, trying to figure out what to do next,” Hackett said.

Trump, 2018 Unilateral withdrawal A previous deal in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions has been pressuring Iran to halt all uranium enrichment activities.

Washington accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons – a claim Iran’s leaders have repeatedly denied.

Amid recent tensions, senior Tehran officials have repeatedly said they are willing to negotiate, but only if Trump ends military threats to the country.

They also emphasized that the Iranian Armed Forces Be prepared to react if attacked.

Meanwhile, regional allies including Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have been engaged in diplomatic efforts to try to prevent a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart earlier on Friday Massoud Pezeshkian Ankara was called on to be prepared to play a “mediator” role between the two sides.

Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan also said he had a lengthy discussion on the issue with U.S. envoy Steve Witkov on Thursday and would keep lines of communication open with Washington.

Fidan spoke with Araghchi on Friday, saying that US-Iran nuclear negotiations must be restarted and will pave the way for the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

“We bring all parties together to the negotiating table” to resolve issues “one by one,” he said.