Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described direct consultations with the United States on Iran’s nuclear program as futile. He made these remarks at a time when relations between Iran and the US have further deteriorated.
In 2015, former US President Barack Obama’s administration and Western allies established an agreement with Iran to halt its nuclear program. However, in 2018, during Trump’s first term as US President, he withdrew the US from the agreement and imposed strong sanctions against Iran. These measures have devastated Iran’s economy. The US took these steps with the encouragement of Israel’s terrorist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since then, Iran has restarted its nuclear program and begun enriching uranium. Iran has increased its uranium enrichment to 60%. Uranium needs to be enriched to 90% to reach weapons-grade. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful.
On January 20, Trump, who has begun his second term as US President, said he wants to work on establishing a new nuclear agreement with Iran again. He said this after reimposing the sanctions he had placed on Iran during his first term, which the previous US administration had eased. He said he wants to reach a good agreement with Iran that would allow the Iranian people to move forward with their lives.
Last month, Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressing hope that talks could be held between Iran and the US to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Later, Trump threatened to bomb Iran if it doesn’t reach an agreement with the US. This was just last week. Regarding Trump’s threats, Araghchi said that while the US says it wants to negotiate, its intentions are unclear. He questioned the purpose of issuing threats if they want to negotiate.
Iran still maintains that it is not working to produce nuclear weapons. It has not accepted the US proposals for negotiations so far. However, Iran has indicated that a solution to the nuclear issue could be worked out through other means without direct talks with the US. Araghchi also spoke along these lines. He said Iran wants to negotiate with the US as an equal country. Describing the US as repeatedly threatening and intimidating in violation of the UN Charter, Araghchi said that US leaders also speak differently on different occasions. In response to Trump’s threat to bomb Iran if an agreement is not reached, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, has responded. He said Iran is ready for war and that war is not something Iran is concerned about. He said that while Iran would not initiate a war, the country is prepared for a state of war.
