Tehran will not negotiate with US, says Iran Guards

DUBAI: Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday Tehran would not negotiate with the US and a senior cleric warned that a US Navy fleet could be "destroyed with one missile", as a US aircraft carrier headed towards the Gulf. The comments by hardliners appeared partly aimed at discouraging President Hassan Rouhani and his moderate allies in Tehran from taking up an offer of talks from Washington.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Iran's leaders to sit down and talk with him about giving up their nuclear programme, and said he could not rule out a military confrontation.
The carrier Abraham Lincoln, deployed as a warning to Iran, passed through Egypt's Suez Canal on Thursday. The semi-official ISNA news agency quoted hardliner Ayatollah Tabatabai-Nejad as saying: "Their billion(-dollar) fleet can be destroyed with one missile. If they attempt any move, they will ... (face) dozens of missiles because at that time (government) officials won't be in charge to act cautiously."