By Micah Jonah
February 12, 2026
Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, has accused Israel of attempting to sabotage ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear programme in a bid to provoke war in the region.
Larijani, who serves as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the allegation during an interview in Doha, Qatar, where he met with senior officials on Wednesday.
He said Israel was fabricating pretexts to derail the negotiations, which he described as being at a delicate stage.
“Our negotiations are exclusively with the United States – we are not engaged in any talks with Israel,” Larijani said. “However, Israel has inserted itself into this process with the intent of undermining and sabotaging these negotiations.”
According to him, Israel’s strategy is aimed at destabilising the wider region, warning that its actions could affect not only Iran but also other countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
His remarks come after Iran and the United States held a round of indirect talks in Muscat, Oman, last week as part of efforts to resolve the long-running nuclear dispute. The negotiations are taking place amid heightened military tensions and warnings from former US President Donald Trump that Washington could strike Iran if its demands are not met.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu also met Trump in Washington on Wednesday, where discussions reportedly centred on Iran. Trump later said negotiations with Tehran would continue but that no final agreement had been reached.
Larijani said the talks in Oman involved an exchange of messages and that Tehran had yet to receive a concrete proposal from Washington. He maintained that there was common ground between both sides on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran has consistently denied pursuing.
However, he insisted that Iran’s missile programme would not be part of the negotiations, describing it as a domestic security matter. He also rejected calls for Iran to reduce its uranium enrichment to zero, saying the country requires enriched uranium for peaceful civilian purposes, including medical use.
Larijani warned that any military attack on Iran would be met with retaliation against US bases in the region.
The renewed diplomatic push follows months of heightened tension, including previous strikes on Iranian facilities that had disrupted earlier rounds of negotiations.
