Latest news with #IranUSrelations
LBCI
12-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Iran FM says 'ready to build confidence through diplomacy'
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran was "ready" for diplomacy on its nuclear program, weeks after Israel and the United States struck its facilities despite negotiations. "The Islamic Republic of Iran remains ready to build this confidence through diplomacy, but before that, our counterparts must convince us that they want diplomacy and not that diplomacy is a cover for other goals and objectives they have," Araghchi told diplomats in the Iranian capital. AFP
Al Jazeera
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran ‘needs more time' to decide on resuming nuclear talks with US
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has ruled out a quick resumption of talks with the United States after President Donald Trump said US negotiations with Tehran could restart as early as this week. Araghchi's comments on CBS Evening News on Monday came as the foreign ministers of the G7 issued a statement calling for dialogue on a deal to curb Iran's nuclear programme. Iran and the US were holding talks on Tehran's nuclear programme when Israel launched attacks on Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure. The US later joined in Israel's attacks, by bombing the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites on June 21. Tehran insists its programme is peaceful, but the US and Israel say they want to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon. Araghchi said negotiations would not start as quickly as Trump had indicated, and that Iran first needs assurances against further attacks. 'In order for us to decide to reengage, we would have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations,' the minister said. 'I think with all these considerations, we still need more time,' he said, although 'the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut'. The Trump administration is seeking talks with Iran after the US president, during his first term, abandoned an agreement his predecessor signed with Tehran in 2015, which curbed the nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Under that deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium below 3.67 percent purity for fuel used in commercial nuclear power plants. After Trump ditched the deal, Iran responded by producing uranium enriched to 60 percent, above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade. Trump has said the US attacks had 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear sites, and senior officials said it would be almost impossible for the country to resurrect its atomic programme. Araghchi pushed back against that assertion, however. 'One cannot obliterate the technology and science for enrichment through bombings,' he told CBS. 'If there is this will on our part, and the will exists in order to once again make progress in this industry, we will be able to expeditiously repair the damages and make up for the lost time.' Since the US and Israeli attacks, and the ensuing ceasefire, Iran has put on hold its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) due to what Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday called the the agency chief's 'destructive' behaviour towards the country. Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said tensions are growing between Iran and the IAEA. 'They [Iranians] are saying that they will only allow the inspectors to return once they secure the nuclear sites' that have been bombed by the US and Israel, Serdar said. Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations, meanwhile, said they supported the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, and urged for negotiations between Tehran and Washington to resume. 'We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear program,' the G7 foreign ministers said on Monday. The ministers also urged 'all parties to avoid actions that could further destabilise the region'.
Free Malaysia Today
12-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Iran says to target US bases if conflict breaks out
An Iranian military truck carries an S-300 missile system during the annual Army Day celebration in Tehran. (EPA Images pic) TEHRAN : Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out, while President Donald Trump said he was 'less confident' about reaching a nuclear deal. Amid escalating tensions, a US official said staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while the UK maritime trade operations, run by the British navy, advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution. Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his 'maximum pressure' campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails. 'All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries,' Iran's defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail. 'God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed,' the minister said, adding that the US side 'will suffer more losses' if it came to conflict. The US has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar. Iran and the US have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a 'non-negotiable' right and Washington calling it as a 'red line'. Trump had previously expressed optimism about the talks, saying during a Gulf tour last month Washington was 'getting close' to securing a deal. But in an interview published Wednesday, Trump said he was 'less confident' the US and Iran could reach a deal, in response to a question on whether he believed he could stop Tehran from enriching uranium. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60%, far above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90% needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the US and its ally Israel, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Last week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is 'key' to Iran's nuclear programme and that Washington 'cannot have a say' on the issue. During the interview with the New York Post's podcast 'Pod Force One', which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached. 'I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more – less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that's a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,' he said. 'Something happened to them but I am much less confident of a deal being made… Maybe they don't wanna make a deal, what can I say? And maybe they do. There is nothing final.' Trump maintained that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons, saying 'it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying'. On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received 'elements' of a US proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained 'ambiguities'. Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions – a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. On Monday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog began a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna that will last until Friday to discuss Iran's atomic activities and other issues. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting followed a report issued by it criticising 'less than satisfactory' cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites. Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on 'forged documents' provided by its arch-foe Israel. In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the US strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani days before at Baghdad airport. Dozens of US soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Al Jazeera
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran threatens to strike US bases if conflict erupts over nuclear programme
Iran's defence minister has said his country would target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out with the United States, as President Donald Trump said he was losing confidence that a nuclear deal would be agreed. Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of talks since April as Trump seeks an agreement that would place constraints on Iran's uranium enrichment. He has threatened to attack Iran if no deal can be agreed. Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday that Iran would target US military bases in the region if the US attacked it first. 'Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don't come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all US bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,' Nasirzadeh told reporters, the Reuters news agency reported. The sixth round of talks is expected later this week, with Trump saying they will take place on Thursday, and Tehran saying they will be held on Sunday in Oman. Trump said that he was growing less confident that a nuclear deal would be reached, in comments in a podcast released on Wednesday. 'I don't know,' the US leader told the podcast Pod Force One on Monday, when asked whether he thought he could strike a deal with Iran. 'I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made,' he said. Trump repeated the US position that Iran would be stopped from developing a nuclear bomb, regardless of whether a deal was reached. 'But it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it's so much nicer to do it,' he told the podcast. 'But I don't think I see the same level of enthusiasm for them to make a deal.' Iran insists that its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes, but Western powers have long expressed fear that Tehran intends to develop a nuclear weapon. In the next round of talks, Iran is expected to deliver its counter to a previous US offer that was rejected by Tehran. The global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is currently meeting in Vienna, where it is poised to vote on a resolution to censure Iran over accusations it has failed to comply with nuclear non-proliferation obligations. Iran has promised a 'proportionate' response to any action against it by the watchdog or Western powers. Russia has also called for greater efforts to find a resolution to the nuclear issue. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees arms control and US relations, said on Wednesday that Moscow could provide practical help to strike a solution, offering that Russia could remove nuclear material from Iran to be converted into civilian reactor fuel. 'We are ready to provide assistance to both Washington and Tehran, not only politically, not only in the form of ideas that could be of use in the negotiation process, but also practically,' Ryabkov told reporters, according to Reuters. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also weighed in on the impending talks, stressing that Iran did not wish to develop nuclear weapons, and calling for the continuation of its enrichment programme under the supervision of the IAEA. 'President Trump entered office saying that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. That is actually in line with our own doctrine and could become the main foundation for a deal,' Araghchi wrote on X. 'As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program is within reach — and could be achieved rapidly,' he wrote. 'That mutually beneficial outcome relies on the continuation of Iran's enrichment program, under the full supervision of the IAEA, and the effective termination of sanctions.' President Trump entered office saying that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. That is actually in line with our own doctrine and could become the main foundation for a deal. As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful… — Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 11, 2025Another major sticking point in the talks has been Iran's missile programme, which would be used in the delivery of any nuclear weapon. Nasirzadeh also said on Wednesday that Iran had successfully tested a missile carrying a 2,000kg (4,410lb) warhead last week. He did not specify whether this was a variant of the Khorramshahr ballistic missile – Iran's longest-range projectile that can travel over 2,000km (1,240 miles) – or a new model, or provide further details about the missile. During his first White House term from 2017-2021, Trump pulled the US out of a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment drive in exchange for relief from sanctions.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Iranians react to new Trump travel ban as tensions are high between nations
People walk past a state-sponsored anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians again face a U.S. travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump, with the decision drawing anger, frustration and some shrugs given the decades of tensions between the countries. Trump imposed a similar ban during his first term before withdrawing America unilaterally from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, under which Iran drastically limited its program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. When he returned to the White House and began seeking a new deal with Iran, it saw the country's rial currency improve and stocks rise. But worries have grown as its government appears poised to reject an initial American proposal. The travel ban has further darkened that mood and led Iranians to fear Trump will lump the nation's 80 million people with its theocratic government even after he repeatedly praised them while seeking a deal. 'Now I understand that Trump is against all Iranians, and his attitude is not limited to the government,' said Asghar Nejati, a 31-year-old man working in a Tehran pharmacy. Even in the years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and subsequent U.S. Embassy hostage crisis, Iranian students traveled to the U.S. to attend universities. Between 2018 and 2024, an average of around 10,000 Iranian students went to the U.S. annually. Estimates suggest some 1 million Iranian-origin people live in the U.S. today. Mehrnoush Alipour, a 37-year-old graphic designer, said the nations could have better relations if they could spoke to each other in softer tones. 'This is another foolish decision. Trump cannot reach his goals by imposing pressures on ordinary Iranians,' she said. 'The two nations can have better relations through openings, not restrictions.' Bank teller Mahdieh Naderi said Trump was lashing out over his frustrated efforts to reach ceasefires in the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine war. 'Trump just expressed his anger about his failed plans,' Naderi said. 'He is complaining about the Chinese and others who are living in the U.S., too Some said interest in the U.S. was already waning before the latest ban. 'Over the past years, two of my grandchildren went to Canada to continue their education there,' said Mohammad Ali Niaraki, 75. 'Iranians are not limited in immigration and they are not as interested to go to the U.S. as they were decades ago. Iranians prefer Canada, as well as neighboring countries with flourishing economies like the (United Arab) Emirates.' Others pointed out that high-ranking government officials have children living or working in the U.S., despite the tensions, and suggested that it would be fair to remove those as well. Tehran resident Mehri Soltani offered rare support for Trump's decision. 'Those who have family members in the U.S, it's their right to go, but a bunch of bad people and terrorists and murderers want to go there as well,' he said. 'So his policy is correct. He's doing the right thing.' ___ Nasser Karimi And Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
