Trump Tells Mideast Nations To Join Abraham Accords
'Now that the nuclear arsenal being 'created' by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,' Trump wrote in a social media post.
So far, the four Muslim-majority countries of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Morocco, with Sudan have signed on – normalizing relations with Israel – which was the result of efforts during Trump's first term.
Washington has long pushed for Saudi Arabia to join, and there's been talk of post-Assad Syria joining too – but all of this has been deeply complicated by the Gaza war.
As for whether Iran's nuclear program has in fact been 'obliterated' – this remains very much an open question, after much speculation that the bulk of the Islamic Republic's enriched uranium had already been moved well before US strikes hit three nuclear facilities at the end of the 12-day war launched by Israel in June.
Fresh Thursday statements from Iran's chief negotiator suggest Tehran is slamming the door on jump-starting nuclear talks with the United States:
Senior Iranian official Abbas Araghchi issued a stark message regarding the future of nuclear negotiations with Washington, telling the media that Tehran had no intention of returning to talks with the U.S. under pressure.
'Whether dialogue and negotiations take place in the near or distant future depends on what our national interests require,' Araghchi said, according to the U.K.-based outlet IranWire.
Araghchi said Iran was imposing 'new conditions' for its relationship with the IAEA, which must now obtain approval from the Supreme National Security Council, an entity closely tied to the supreme leader and the military-security establishment, Iranian media reported.
There are obvious reasons why Iranian leaders would see such renewed dialogue as futile and condemned to failure. It had already been engaging in several rounds of talks with US negotiators at the very moment it was attacked by Israel, which President Trump reportedly greenlighted.
Yet so far the Trump-backed ceasefire which brought the June war to an end has held. Despite a spate of deaths among nuclear scientists and top military officials, Iranian officials have indicated the country's nuclear program has only been set back by months – and that it has plenty more nuclear scientists to rely on.
'Buildings can be rebuilt. Machines can be replaced, because the technology is there. We have plenty of scientists and technicians who used to work in our facilities,' Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi explained in a recent interview with the Financial Times . Iran has long maintained its program is only for peace nuclear energy purposes.
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