Iran
US President Donald Trump (Left) and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (Right). Graphic: Rudaw/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to hit Iran again "if necessary," hours after Iran’s top diplomat called on Washington to reach a "negotiated solution” over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“We are open to talks, not direct [talks] for the time being. If they are coming for a win-win solution, I am ready to engage with them. I mean we are ready to do any confidence-building measure needed to prove that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever and Iran will never go for nuclear weapons. And in return, we expect them to lift their sanctions. This is a win-win game,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News on Monday.
He also said that the US strikes on Iran’s three nuclear facilities severely damaged them last month “but the technology is there.”
Hours later, Trump responded to Araghchi’s comments, reiterating his country’s readiness to target Iran again if needed.
“Of course they [Iranian nuclear sites] are [destroyed], just like I said, and we will do it again, if necessary!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform early Tuesday.
Washington on June 24 brokered a ceasefire to the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later declared victory, claiming that Trump had exaggerated the destruction caused by US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran and the US had held five rounds of Oman-mediated indirect nuclear talks before Israel attacked the Islamic republic last month, which effectively ended the negotiations, especially after Trump joined in striking Iran.
Araghchi said on Monday that “maybe the current administration doesn't like that, but we can come to a similar deal, a better deal than that.”
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers - formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
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