Iran says US nuclear talks 'meaningless' after Israel attack

Iran said on Friday the dialogue with the US over Tehran's nuclear programme is "meaningless" after Israel's biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but did not rule out attending talks scheduled for Sunday.

"The other side [the US] acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime [Israel] to target Iran's territory," the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.

He said Israel "succeeded in influencing" the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington's permission.

Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel's attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be "wise" to negotiate over its nuclear programme.

Despite the escalating hostilities, Baghaei did not rule out Iranian officials travelling to Oman for the sixth round of negotiations with the US on Sunday.

"It is still unclear what decision we will make for Sunday," he was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Iran denies that its uranium enrichment programme is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.

(Reuters and TNA staff)