Washington, USA – US President Donald Trump issued a strongly worded warning to Iran, calling on it to quickly sit down at the negotiating table to reach an agreement on its nuclear program,
stressing that failure to reach an agreement would lead to consequences he described as “much worse” for the Islamic Republic.
Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday that time is running out for Tehran, adding:
“We hope that Iran will quickly come to the negotiating table to reach a fair
and equitable agreement – no nuclear weapons – an agreement that is in the interest of all parties. Time is running out, it is very important.”
Trump’s statements
The US president stressed that his country would not allow a repeat of
what he described as past mistakes in dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue.
Trump’s remarks came after a direct warning in which he said that “the next attack will be much worse.”
He urged Iran not to test the patience of the United States,
and indicated that another “arsenal” was headed towards Iran.
This is a reference to a possible military escalation in the event that the diplomatic track fails.
During his first term, Trump withdrew from the multilateral nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and the major powers.
He argued at the time that it did not serve American interests
and did not place sufficient restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program or its regional activities.
New negotiations
In contrast, Iranian state media quoted Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi
as saying that he had not had any contact with US Special Envoy Steve Wittkopf in the past few days.
He denied that Tehran had requested new negotiations with Washington.
These developments come amid escalating tensions in the Middle East,
with international fears that the situation could spiral into a wider confrontation.
This is in the event that political efforts to contain the Iranian nuclear crisis fail.
