Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities have said they are ready to defend the country and avoid new conflicts through regional diplomatic efforts as the United States continues to threaten military attacks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will hold high-level talks in Türkiye on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagai said.

Baghai added that Tehran was seeking to “constantly strengthen relations with neighboring countries based on common interests.”

The visit comes amid a series of high-level talks as regional leaders hope to persuade the United States not to launch an attack and hope both sides can find some kind of compromise.

But the U.S. “Armada” — as President Donald Trump dubbed it on Wednesday — continues Located near Iranian watersLed by the USS Abraham Lincoln.

In Iran, the highest political, military and judicial authorities continue to send messages of defiance, indicating that Iran’s focus is on defense, not negotiations.

Iranian state media on Wednesday quoted Kazim Garibaldi, a senior member of Iran’s negotiating team, as saying: “Tehran’s current priority is not to negotiate with the United States, but to be 200 percent prepared to defend our country.”

Garibaldi said information had recently been exchanged with the United States through intermediaries. But he added that even if conditions were right for negotiations, Iran would still be fully prepared to defend itself, noting that last June, just as negotiations were underway, Iran was attacked — first by Israel and then by the United States. About to start.

The army is ready

Iran has emphasized its military strength in recent days, holding numerous military drills since a 12-day war in June that saw several senior Iranian military officials killed and nuclear facilities attacked.

The Iranian army announced on Thursday that 1,000 new “strategic” drones have joined its forces. These include unidirectional suicide drones, as well as aircraft with combat, reconnaissance and cyber warfare capabilities that can strike fixed or moving targets on land, air and sea, according to the Army.

“Commensurate with the threats we face, the Army’s agenda includes maintaining and improving the strategic advantage of rapid operations and responding decisively to any aggression,” Army Chief Amir Hamati said in a brief statement.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also previously touted its ability to withstand attacks and assaults. Continue to launch ballistic and cruise missiles Israel, and, if necessary, U.S. assets in the region.

‘Our people will die’

In Tehran and across the country, Iranians have closely followed Trump’s often contradictory rhetoric – reiterating threats while also expressing a willingness to talk.

Despite what Washington says, the Islamic Republic’s most fervent supporters appear firmly behind the government. The Iranian nation is at its weakest Protests this month have rocked the country and left thousands dead since taking power nearly half a century ago.

“The United States can’t do anything,” one young woman told Al Jazeera in Tehran, repeating a refrain favored by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his top officials.

“Even if God forbid they fire some kind of missile at us, the Islamic Republic will respond decisively and burn their bases to the ground,” she said.

But even the administration and its supporters remain concerned about the damage Iran could inflict may cause As for Israel and the United States if they were attacked, many Iranians worry about what a second conflict in a year would mean for them.

“I think another war would be very terrible for both countries (Iran and Israel) and people from our countries would die in this war,” another young student woman said in Tehran on Thursday.

“If war breaks out, we will face destruction and destruction. I hope this doesn’t happen,” said a man in his 50s. All interviewees asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Preparation

The authorities have been trying to prepare civilians for war.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian Delegate some powers to governors Iran’s border provinces, allowing them to import essential goods, especially food, in the event of war.

Attention has also turned to the urgent need for public shelters to protect Iranians during air strikes.

Alireza Zakani Tehran mayor turned hardline lawmakerThe city said in a statement Thursday that the construction of the “underground parking shed” would be a “priority project.”

But Zakani added that the project would only be completed “in the next few years,” meaning that if a conflict did break out, the Iranians would once again have little to protect themselves from a bombing raid.

New conflicts could also mean a return to communications blackouts, which occurred during the June War and recent protests.

All internet and mobile access was cut across Iran on the evening of January 8, at the height of nationwide protests, one of the bloodiest periods in the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

Iranian authorities, which imposed a nearly three-week total blackout affecting more than 90 million people in one of the longest and most widespread blackouts in its history, have restored some internet bandwidth in recent days, but most people still have communications disrupted or severely disrupted.

But those with access to the internet are now seeing images of the bloodshed of the past few weeks and fearing more bloodshed could ensue if fighting does break out.

“I fear that soon we will be awakened again by the nighttime explosions caused by war,” said a young woman in Tehran, adding that she had been inundated with heartbreaking images and videos of protesters being killed across the country. “But even without war, death is already all around us.”