ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran said Monday the framework for talks with the US is expected to be ready in a few days, as both sides trade jabs and tensions boil.

“Several points have been addressed and we are examining and finalizing the details of each stage in the diplomatic process, which we hope to conclude in the coming days. This concerns the method and framework,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said during a presser, noting that regional countries are acting as mediators by coordinating message exchanges between Washington and Tehran.

As tensions surge between Iran and the US, the two have shown willingness to negotiate on shaky grounds as military movement increases in the Gulf from both sides.

Baghaei denied receiving an ultimatum from US President Donald Trump to reach an agreement on Tehran’s uranium after US officials said Trump had given Iran a deadline to return to the negotiating table, otherwise warning military action.

The Islamic republic “is a country that always acts with honesty and seriousness in diplomatic processes, but it never accepts ultimatums. For that reason, such a statement cannot be confirmed,” Baghaei said.

Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests since late last year, which have spread to the majority of provinces and increasingly targeted the government. 

Iranian authorities have delivered a heavy-handed response to the nationwide protests, killing, injuring, and arresting tens of thousands of demonstrators, whom they have labeled agents of the US and Israel, according to reports from human rights watchdogs. Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Iran continues killing protesters.

In an exclusive interview with CNN on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran believes there are “certain parties” that are trying to “drag” the US into war with Iran, but stated: “I think President Trump is wise enough to make the correct decision.”

“A meaningful negotiation should be based on trust, and unfortunately we have lost our trust in the United States as a negotiating partner. We need to overcome this mistrust… I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons,” said Araghchi.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei warned in a speech on Sunday that if the US attacks the country “it will be a regional war.”

Iranian Army Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi on Monday warned “no American will be safe,” if the US attacks Iran, stressing that “the fire of the region will burn the US and its allies.”

“We are fully prepared to confront and deliver a retaliatory slap,” he said, adding, “our action will be swift, decisive, and beyond US calculations.”

The US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying strike group have gathered in the Middle East, with continued reports of further equipment amassing in the Gulf.