Iranian press review: Larijani believed US was not seeking agreement before the war
US was not seeking agreement in talks with Iran
Saeed Laylaz, an economist and reformist activist, has revealed details about the last round of Iran–US negotiations that were underway before the US and Israel began the war in the Middle East. He said that no matter how many concessions the Iranian side offered, the US was not satisfied.
In an interview with the Etemad daily, Laylaz said that in September, he and a group of political and economic experts were invited to a meeting with Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, to review the negotiations.
According to Lailaz, Larijani updated the group about the talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff. He said that during the negotiations, it became clear to the Iranian side that the US was not interested in reaching an agreement.
“No matter how many concessions we made, Witkoff and the other American negotiators would first show interest,” Larijani said, according to Laylaz.
“Then their team would return to the US to coordinate among themselves. When they came back to the negotiation table, they told the Iranian side: ‘That’s not enough.’”
'No matter how many concessions we made...when they came back to the negotiation table, they told the Iranian side: ‘That’s not enough'
- Saeed Laylaz
“This process was repeated until we realised that the US was not really looking for an agreement with Iran,” Laylaz quoted Larijani as saying.
He added that Larijani also told those at the meeting that he expected a new military attack against Iran by the end of December 2025.
Laylaz, a critic of Iran’s authoritarian system who has been arrested and imprisoned several times, also addressed claims that the Islamic Republic could have prevented the war.
“No government in Iran could meet the Americans’ demands, because these demands would mean the collapse of Iran’s territorial integrity and independence, not just the collapse of the Islamic Republic,” he stressed.
Ancient artefacts caught in bombings
Photos and videos of US and Israeli attacks on Iran show damage to historic monuments across the country, while Cultural Heritage Organisation officials have been trying to protect millennia-old artefacts kept in museums.
On Monday, strikes hit the historic city of Isfahan, damaging several well-known landmarks, some of which are listed as Unesco World Heritage sites.
According to a video released by cultural heritage groups, the attacks damaged Chehel Sotoun Palace, Rekib Khaneh Mansion, Timuri and Ashraf halls, as well as the historic building of Saadi high school. Windows at Ali Qapu Palace, located in Naqsh-e Jahan Square, were also shattered.
On Sunday, reports from Lorestan Province said provincial offices of the Cultural Heritage Organisation, located in a historic building, were destroyed in the attacks. The nearby Falak-ol-Aflak Castle also suffered damage.
In Tehran, Golestan Palace, a World Heritage site, was also among the historical locations damaged during the first days of the war.
Meanwhile, the Haft Sobh daily posted a photo on its official X account from inside the National Museum of Iran. The image shows the nearly 2,500-year-old statue of Darius I surrounded by protective barriers placed around the artefact.
According to official sources, museum staff have removed many movable artefacts from exhibition halls and walls to protect them from the explosions.
The attacks on historic sites also sparked reactions online. Hananeh Nabavi, an Iranian living in Sweden, recalled a 2020 message by Donald Trump in which he threatened to target Iran’s cultural sites.
Reposting the message on X, she wrote: “Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s cultural monuments six years ago, and now he is carrying out his threats… Before this, ISIS and the Taliban had a record of attacking historical monuments in their dossier.”
Athletes launch campaign to rebuild Minab school
The killing of 175 people, most of them students, in an attack on the Shajareh Tayyibeh school in the city of Minab on the first day of the US-Israeli attacks remains a major topic in Iranian media. A group of athletes have now launched a campaign to raise money to rebuild the school.
Ebrahim Shakuri, a former Iranian footballer and current coach of the Paykan football team, announced the campaign and described the Shajareh Tayyibeh school as a symbol of resistance.
“Before we are athletes, we are human beings,” Shakuri said. “It hurts every person to see such events. For us, schools and sports venues have always been sacred and respected.”
He added that a number of Iranian athletes have already expressed their readiness to join the campaign and help raise the necessary funds.
Shakuri also criticised comments by President Masoud Pezeshkian, who had apologised to Arab countries after they were targeted during Iran’s response to Israeli and US attacks.
“Some of our officials are apologising,” Shakuri said. “The Iranian people should not apologise. Regardless of their beliefs, religion or political views, the Iranian people were not responsible for this war.
“If anyone should apologise, it is those who attacked our country and caused this,” he concluded.
‘Where can we go?’ Iranians ask as bombing continues
Since the start of the second Israeli-American war on Iran in less than a year, much of the reporting in Iranian media has focused on war damage, the destruction of residential areas, and the deaths of civilians.
Yet despite the heavy bombing, many people remain in Tehran because they have nowhere else to go.
On Sunday, the Shargh daily reported on the destruction of residential buildings in the Shahin neighbourhood in northwest Tehran.
'The cost of finding accommodation outside Tehran is staggering. Everything is getting very expensive, and we can’t afford it'
- Tehran resident
The main target of the strike, which took place on the morning of 5 March, was the police headquarters in the area. But homes and shops within 300 meters of the police station were also damaged.
Describing the aftermath of the bombing, Shargh wrote: “Broken windows, torn-off balcony screens, deep holes in the walls of houses, ripped curtains, doors blown off their hinges, and people still in shock from the explosion.”
According to the daily, some residents are still living in half-destroyed buildings and fear the area could be hit again. Shargh quoted one resident as saying: “They say they hit everything twice.”
Residents of the Shahin neighbourhood, despite living close to the police station, say they have nowhere to go.
“Where can we go?” one resident said. “The cost of finding accommodation outside Tehran is staggering. Everything is getting very expensive, and we can’t afford it.”
*Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by MEE.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
Read Full Article on Middle East Eye →