United States President Donald Trump has responded to the Iranian Foreign Minister’s position on uranium enrichment, saying he will not hesitate to order another round of strikes if that is what Tehran is seeking.
He made these comments after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently told E3 nations, including the UK, France and Germany, that his country would continue to enrich uranium for civilian purposes irrespective of international pressure.
Earlier last month, Trump ordered military strikes on Iran’s nuclear research facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, days before the sixth round of talks was set to take place between the two sides.
On Monday, during a joint press conference in Scotland alongside the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said that Iran “is sending very bad signals, very nasty signals.”
Trump said, “They should not be doing that. We wiped out their research facilities. They can start again. If they do, we will wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it.
“We will do that gladly and openly,” he said.
Following Trump’s strong remarks, Araghchi, who is the lead negotiator from the Iranian side, said, “We will never respond to the language of threat and intimidation,” while reiterating that Iran needs uranium enrichment for medical and civilian purposes.
He added that Iran “will not hesitate to react more decisively” if it is attacked again.
Donald Trump’s first term was marked by the United States’ hasty withdrawal from the 2015 US-Iran JCPOA. Under the agreement, Iran had agreed to give away or restrict its enrichment to below the threshold of four per cent.
Meanwhile, Trump’s return to office has seen more aggressive actions taken against Iran, including harsh diplomatic language and threats of military action.
On Friday, Trump also accused Iran of intervening in the latest round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war in Gaza, which collapsed last week with both the Israeli and US delegations leaving negotiations in Qatar.
“I think they got involved in this negotiation, telling Hamas and giving Hamas signals and orders,” Trump said, without providing further details on the claim.
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