US President Donald Trump has written a letter to Iran, warning it to stop developing nuclear weapons or face possible military action.
According to foreign news agencies AFP and Reuters, Donald Trump told Fox Business that I have written a letter to Iran, which says that I hope you are going to negotiate because if we have to take a military path, it would be a terrible thing for them (Iran). He said that I thought they would get this letter, and the other alternative is that we have to do something because we cannot allow another nuclear weapon to be built.
There was no immediate response from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, which is currently on a weekly holiday, to a request for comment on Donald Trump’s remarks. The letter was apparently written to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Donald Trump said there are two ways to deal with Iran, militarily or they making a deal, I would prefer to make a deal as I don’t want to hurt Iran.
A landmark 2015 deal imposed sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 during his first term. Tehran remained in the deal for a year after Washington withdrew but then began to backtrack on its commitments.
Upon his return to the White House in January, Donald Trump reinstated a “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran, which he says is seeking a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran has consistently denied these claims and has repeatedly expressed a willingness to revive the deal, but efforts to do so have failed.
Donald Trump said in February that he wanted to reach a deal with Iran that would prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons. Russia has offered to mediate between the United States and Iran, a source told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that the Kremlin was determined to do everything possible to peacefully resolve tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov discussed international efforts to resolve Iran’s nuclear program with Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement today.
No talks with the United States on pressure policy, Iran
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that he would not resume talks with the United States on its nuclear program because Donald Trump was committed to his “maximum pressure” policy.
Speaking at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, he said that we will not hold any direct talks with the United States as long as it continues its policy of maximum pressure and its threats. He added that Iran’s nuclear program cannot be destroyed by military action, as Israel has threatened.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told AFP that Iran’s nuclear program cannot be destroyed by military action; it is a technology that we have acquired, and this technology is in the brain and cannot be bombed.
He warned that an Israeli attack would cause wider chaos in the region, adding that he believed that if Iran were attacked, it could turn into a wider conflagration in the region.
