TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticized U.S. President Donald Trump over recent comments about Iran’s nuclear program and called on Washington to return to diplomacy rather than repeating past mistakes caused by disinformation and Israeli influence.
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He said if the US president reviewed the minutes of those talks, he would see how close the two countries came to reaching a historic nuclear deal.
Araghchi drew parallels with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, writing that the U.S. government should remember that there was no real intelligence to prove that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Instead, he said, the war resulted in “untold destruction, the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, and the wasted $7 trillion of American taxpayers.”
The Iranian foreign minister added that similar false claims are now being made about Iran’s nuclear activities, noting that Israel is misleading US officials into promoting the idea that Iran is close to developing nuclear weapons. “With that plan failing, Israel is now trying to fabricate a new threat from Iran’s defenses. But the American people are tired of Israel forever fighting wars,” he said.
Araghchi emphasized Iran’s resilience, declaring, “Iran is a great country and Iranians are a great people, inheritors of an ancient civilization. Our buildings and machines may be destroyed, but our resolve will never waver.”
He concluded his remarks by reaffirming that “there is no solution other than a negotiated outcome.”
Araghchi’s comments followed comments by the U.S. president who told sailors at the Navy’s 250th anniversary celebrations at Naval Base Norfolk that Washington “will have to take care of” Iran again if it resumes suspected nuclear activities. President Trump also praised the U.S. airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, calling it “perfectly executed.”
He claimed the attack, carried out under what the Pentagon called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” targeted key facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan and had stopped Iran from developing a nuclear weapon “within a month.” Iran has repeatedly denied these allegations.
On June 13, Israel launched a blatant and unprovoked attack on Iran, sparking a 12-day war that left at least 1,064 people dead, including military leaders, nuclear scientists, and civilians. The United States also joined the conflict by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities, which Tehran said was a serious violation of international law.
In retaliation, Iranian forces targeted strategic locations throughout the occupied territories and Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military base in West Asia.