TEHRAN – As indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States prepare to resume on Sunday, Iran’s security chief asserted that the ongoing negotiations with Washington are “unpredictable,” emphasizing that progress in talks “hinges squarely on the U.S.’s conduct.”

His remarks came alongside blistering criticism from Iran’s top diplomat, who pointed out that the Israeli regime is peddling “desperate fabrications” through Fox News and the discredited Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) terror group to sabotage diplomacy.

Addressing Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian declared on Thursday that Tehran’s negotiating stance remains anchored in “unmistakably clear red lines,” adding, “The entire process rests on the behavior of the United States and the prevailing circumstances.”

He cautioned that while the outcome of talks remains “unpredictable,” Iran refuses to engage under coercion. “Entering discussions on equal footing, free from threats, is the only path worthy of dignity and rationality in international affairs,” he stated.  
 
The warnings coincided with Fox News reporting a claim from the MEK, a designated terrorist group responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and formerly aligned with Saddam Hussein during his invasion of Iran, which purportedly provided 'satellite evidence' of a covert nuclear site in Semnan Province.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the claims as a “desperate fabrication” orchestrated by the Israeli regime’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  

“With his credibility in tatters and exposed as a saboteur, Netanyahu… is turning to both old and new sock puppets. This time, he is using Saddam’s Iranian henchmen,” Araghchi wrote on X, referencing the MEK’s collaboration with Saddam’s regime. “Hiring a literal cult only conveys utter desperation.”  

The MEK, branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. until 2012, has a decades-long record of violence against Iranian civilians, suppression of dissent within its ranks, and opportunistic alliances with anti-Iran spy agencies.

Iran’s UN Mission condemned Fox News for amplifying the group’s “absurd reports,” noting that the MEK “furnishes fabricated findings to Western intelligence agencies” before shopping them to media outlets once their falsehoods are exposed.

The so-called “Rainbow Site” allegations mark the latest in a pattern of Israeli-linked sabotage efforts. The MEK, incriminated as acting as a proxy for Mossad and Western intelligence agencies, has repeatedly surfaced with sensational claims during critical diplomatic junctures.

Tel Aviv’s obstructionist playbook

Netanyahu’s government has long opposed Iran-U.S. diplomacy, employing assassinations, cyberattacks, and disinformation to derail talks.

Recent reports suggest even the Trump administration may have grown frustrated with Israel's overreach.

Netanyahu was reportedly caught off guard by Trump's truce with Yemen’s Ansarallah.

An Israeli military media outlet alleged that, feeling disrespected and manipulated, Trump decided to cut contact with Netanyahu, accusing him and his associates of arrogance and of trying to push the President around.

Close aides told Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer that nothing infuriates Trump more than appearing easily manipulated in public.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had already confirmed in an annual intelligence assessment that Iran is neither building nor intends to build a nuclear bomb.

In a recent interview, she seemed to criticize neoconservatives and the obstruction of the Israeli regime, declaring, "You have those who are co-opted by the military-industrial complex, abusing their position to feed or manipulate intelligence, as we saw with the Iraq War, to start a new war."