Iran-US tensions highlights: Khamenei's advisor says Iran's missile capabilities not subject of negotiation

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US President Donald Trump said he insisted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their White House meeting on Wednesday that negotiations with Iran continue as the United States pushes for a nuclear deal with Tehran.

“It was a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two Countries continues.” Trump said in a social media post. “There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Wednesday that it had called on Iran to immediately free activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi from prison.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran has not received any specific proposal from Washington, and the talks held in Oman were merely an exchange of messages, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani told Al Jazeera.

He added that the discussions are confined to the nuclear program and do not extend to other issues.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iranian education officials asked school students to burn photos of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of government-organized events to mark the 1979 Islamic revolution.

A message shared on the Shad educational application, the Education Ministry’s student-learning and messaging platform, showed an instructions to students to film the act and send the video to school authorities, reminding them that they will be honored at a celebration in exchange.

Officials titled the campaign “Khamenei Is My Life,” presenting it as an initiative for students to demonstrate loyalty to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Blair House in Washington on Wednesday and signed Israel’s accession to President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, Israel’s Channel 14 reported.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, met with a delegation of Hamas leaders at the Iranian embassy in Doha on Wednesday.

Iran-US tensions live updates: UN Watch said it has urged UN Secretary-General António Guterres to rescind an invitation for Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to address the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council and to disclose a reported congratulatory message sent to Tehran marking the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.

The organisation said it sent a formal letter calling on Guterres to withdraw Araghchi’s invitation to speak at the council’s annual opening in Geneva on February 23.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House today with Iran nuclear talks on the agenda of the leaders' meeting.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The United States is unlikely to take “adventurous action” against Iran, Mohammadreza Ashtiani, the country’s former defence minister, said on Wednesday, while warning Washington would face a deadly response if it made such a mistake.

Iran-US tensions live updates: An explosion struck a military convoy in the Mahmoudabad area of Iranshahr in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, destroying at least two armored vehicles, according to the Halvash Telegram channel, which reports on developments in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Sources cited by the outlet said the blast was heard across the city, after which military and security forces stepped up their presence around the site.

Iran-US tensions live updates: A new war between Iran and the United States would not conclude with a ceasefire, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief said.

“It is better to choose the path of negotiation, but if a war begins, there will no longer be a ceasefire,” Mohsen Rezaei said.

Iran-US tensions live updates: “Iran's missile capabilities are its red line and are not a subject to be negotiated,” said Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader said on Wednesday, according to Nournews.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran and the US are weighing a second round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme following heightened tensions triggered by Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June and the Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests, AP reported.

US President Donald Trump has continued to ratchet up pressure on Tehran, deploying an aircraft carrier and additional military assets to the Persian Gulf. He has also warned that Washington could respond militarily if Iran escalates its response to demonstrations, including through mass executions.

The developments have pushed Iran’s nuclear programme back into focus after the June conflict disrupted five earlier rounds of negotiations held in Rome and Muscat, Oman, last year. Trump has additionally floated the possibility of sending a second carrier to the region.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday, as the country’s theocracy faced pressure from both US President Donald Trump, who suggested deploying another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, and a public still angrily denouncing Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that Tehran would "not yield to excessive demands" regarding its nuclear programme, after talks with the United States resumed.

"Our country, Iran, will not yield to their excessive demands," he said while addressing a gathering at Azadi Square in the capital to mark the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

"Our Iran will not yield in the face of aggression, but we are continuing dialogue with all our strength with neighbouring countries in order to establish peace and tranquillity in the region."

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was "not seeking nuclear weapons... and is ready for any kind of verification."

As pressure increased, Trump spoke of deploying a second aircraft carrier in an interview published on Tuesday night. His remarks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long taken a hard line on Iran, was in Washington urging the United States to seek the toughest possible terms in any agreement reached with Tehran in the early stage nuclear talks.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran’s president apologised on Wednesday to “all those affected” by the nationwide protests and the violent crackdown that followed. President Masoud Pezeshkian also criticised what he described as “Western propaganda” linked to the unrest.

Pezeshkian said he was aware of the “great sorrow” felt by people during the protests and the crackdown, though he did not directly refer to the role of Iranian security forces in the bloodshed.

“We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,” Pezeshkian said. “We are not seeking confrontation with the people.”

Iran-US tensions live updates: Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and US President Donald Trump spoke over the phone about efforts to reduce tensions and maintain stability in the region, the Emiri Diwan said on Wednesday.

The call comes ahead of a meeting between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu where the Israeli prime minister is expected to press him to widen US talks with Iran to include curbs on Tehran's missile arsenal and other security threats beyond its nuclear programme.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has warned its adversaries that any threat to the country’s territory would be met with a "more forceful and wider" response, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported.

In a statement released on Tuesday, a day before the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution’s victory, the General Staff praised the resilience of the Iranian people and promised a strong defence against external threats.

Iran "stands powerfully and with authority against any threat, conspiracy, and overreach, confronting threats with a more forceful and broader response," the statement said.

US-Iran tensions live updates: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday called on his compatriots to show "resolve" ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution this week.

Since the revolution, "foreign powers have always sought to restore the previous situation", Ali Khamenei said, referring to the period when Iran was under the rule of shah Reza Pahlavi and dependent on the United States.

"National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and steadfastness of the people," the leader said, adding: "Show it again and frustrate the enemy."

US-Iran tensions live updates: France accused Iran on Monday of "repression and intimidation" after a court handed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi a new six-year prison sentence on charges of harming national security.

Mohammadi, sentenced Saturday, was also handed a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for "propaganda" against Iran's Islamic system, according to her foundation.

"With this sentence, the Iranian regime has, once again, chosen repression and intimidation," the French foreign ministry said in a statement, describing the 53-year-old as a "tireless defender" of human rights.

US-Iran tensions live updates: Netanyahu said as he left for Washington his talks would "first and foremost" be about the Iran negotiations, while adding that they would also discuss Gaza and other regional issues.

"I will present to the president our views regarding the principles for the negotiations," he said in a video statement before his departure. Netanyahu's office said he would will highlight Iran's missile arsenal.

US-Iran tensions live updates: Israel's President Isaac Herzog said on Wednesday that he hoped the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump in Washington later in the day would help counter what he described as Iran's "empire of evil".

Speaking beside Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Herzog wished them "success in bringing peace and undermining that empire of evil emanating from Tehran".

US-Iran tensions live updates: According to the US based group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 6,984 people, including 6,490 protesters, were killed during the unrest as authorities opened live fire on demonstrators.

The group also said that at least 52,623 people were arrested in the crackdown that followed.

Tehran has acknowledged that more than 3,000 people died during the unrest, including members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, and attributed the violence to "terrorist acts".