Iran’s foreign minister has warned the U.S. against launching a war to restrict its nuclear powers, noting “there is no military solution to Iran’s nuclear program”.
In an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program on Friday, Abbas Araghchi said if the US wanted to ensure Tehran’s nuclear program remained peaceful, “the only solution is diplomatic negotiation” and agreeing to a deal.
His message comes as Trump has amassed a huge military build-up in the Middle East, deploying hundreds of jets and warships to the region to be in a position to attack the Islamic Republic, potentially as early as this weekend according to reports.
Trump on Thursday issued a 10-15 day deadline to Iran to come back with a draft of a nuclear deal or else “bad things will happen”.
The president said he preferred a diplomatic solution, but has often undercut that with fiery rhetoric threatening strikes. His ongoing deployment of U.S. military assets and weapons into the Persian Gulf undercut the reports of progress between US and Iranian negotiators at talks this week in Geneva.
On Friday morning, Araghchi emphasised that Iran was capable of defending itself against any military aggression from the U.S and it was willing to negotiate.
“If they want to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever, the only solution is diplomatic negotiation and coming to a diplomatic solution,” he said.
He also denied reports by media earlier in the week that the U.S. had asked for limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment program as part of negotiations for a new deal. He said the U.S. had not asked for a permanent suspension of Iran’s enrichment programs, contrary to reports.
“We have not offered any suspension and the U.S. side has not asked for zero enrichment,” Araghchi said.
The U.S. wants Iran to give up uranium enrichment altogether – the process by which fuel is created for atomic power plants, but also provides material for a warhead.
Washington and its regional ally Israel have also voiced demands for Iran to concede its ballistic missiles, withdraw support for its network of allies around the Middle East and face accountability for the deadly crackdown on protesters at the turn of the year.
Iran has refused to expand negotiation talks to those issues beyond its nuclear program, and has repeatedly said restrictions on its missile arsenal are a red line issue it won’t touch.
On Friday, Araghchi also pushed back on Trump’s claim that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military sites last June had “decimated” Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump, in threatening remarks about striking Iran again, told the first Board of Peace meeting on Thursday: “We may have to take it a step further or we may not.”
Araghchi pushed back on this narrative, saying that during the “huge attack” in June by the US and Israel, “they killed and assassinated our scientists, but they couldn’t kill our nuclear program.”
This is a developing story – more to follow.
