Beirut: Iran has no desire for a war with Israel or the United States but is fully prepared to defend itself if it comes under attack again, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday.

Addressing reporters in Beirut, Araghchi said Tehran remains open to negotiations with Washington on its nuclear programme, provided the talks are conducted on the basis of mutual respect and not imposed through what he described as American “dictation”.

His remarks come amid heightened regional tensions and growing concerns that Israel, a close ally of the U.S., could carry out fresh strikes against Iran, following the 12-day conflict in June. During that escalation, Israel killed several senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists, while U.S. forces bombed Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.

“America and Israel have tested their attack on Iran, and this attack and strategy faced extreme failure,” Araghchi said at the start of a two-day visit to Lebanon. “If they repeat it, they will face the same results.”

“We are ready for any choice. We don’t desire a war, but we are ready for it,” Araghchi said.

U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran in February in an effort to block its development of nuclear weapons. The campaign included U.S.-led strikes on three critical Iranian enrichment facilities in June.

Araghchi said Tehran is ready for negotiations, adding: "But I say that the negotiations should be based on mutual respect and mutual interests.”

“We believe that once the Americans reach the outcome that constructive and positive negotiations rather than ordering dictation are the framework, then at that time the results of these negotiations become fruitful,” he said.

Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels, after Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Tehran long has maintained its atomic program is peaceful, though the West and the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, say Iran had an organised nuclear weapons program until 2003.

Trump last month warned Iran that the U.S. could carry out further military strikes if the country attempts to reconstitute its nuclear program, as he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.

Araghchi’s visit to Beirut came as the Lebanese military said it had concluded the first phase of a plan to disarm factions, such as Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Iran's foreign minister headed an economic delegation for talks with Lebanese officials on regional and international affairs.

“Iran desires to have comprehensive relations with Lebanon, including economic partnerships,” Araghchi said.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas.