Washington, Mar 28 (EFE). – United States President Donald Trump warned Friday that “very bad things” will happen to Iran if it does not agree to sit down and negotiate with Washington over its nuclear program.
“I sent them a letter just recently, and I said: you have to make a decision, one way or the other, and we either have to talk and talk it out or very bad things are going to happen to Iran,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I don’t want that to happen. My big preference, and I don’t say this through strength or weakness, my big preference is, we work it out with Iran. But if we don’t work it out, bad bad things are going to happen to Iran,” he added.
According to US media, the letter Trump sent to Khamenei earlier this month through the United Arab Emirates, included a two-month deadline to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the official IRNA news agency that the Islamic Republic had sent its official response through Oman, but declined to provide details about its contents.
Without elaborating, Araqchi noted that Iran’s policy remains not to engage in direct talks with Washington under a policy of pressure and military threats; however, it is open to indirect negotiations, which have taken place in the past.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump ordered the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear deal, which was negotiated in 2015 by the Barack Obama istration (2009-2017) along with China, , Russia, the United Kingdom and .
The pact limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. After the US withdrawal, Trump reimposed sanctions.
US bases in the Middle East
Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf said on Friday that US bases in the Middle East “will not be safe” if US attacks on Iran continue to pressure it to negotiate a nuclear deal.
“If they threaten Islamic Iran, then, like powder kegs, America’s allies in the region and US bases will be made unsafe,” Qalibaf said in a speech marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day.
Qalibaf referred to US President Donald Trump’s letter, saying it contained nothing worthwhile about lifting sanctions on Iran.
“America’s attitude in the letter is that of a bully… But you cannot bully or deceive the Iranian nation,” he said.
Adding that negotiating under pressure and threats would mean giving in to the other party’s demands, “which would be a prelude to war, which no nation would accept.”
So far, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has rejected Washington’s offer of dialogue as a “hoax” and warned that negotiating with the Trump istration would only lead to more sanctions.
Iran’s highest political authority also recalled that Trump was the one who abandoned the nuclear pact that limited Iran’s nuclear program. EFE
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