ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Monday that a deal with the United States is possible, but only through diplomacy and mutual respect. His comments followed US President Donald Trump’s weekend remarks that the only red line for his administration is Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.
"I want Iran to be really successful, really great, really fantastic. The only thing they can't have is a nuclear weapon,” Trump told NBC on Sunday.
In a statement he posted on X on Monday, the Iranian FM, Araghchi, stated: “If the goal is ‘The only thing they can't have is a nuclear weapon’ as President Trump just said, a deal is achievable. There is only ONE PATH to achieve it: DIPLOMACY based on MUTUAL RESPECT and MUTUAL INTERESTS.”
The Iranian foreign minister notably attached an excerpt from an article by the Reason to his post, which hints that US President Trump may be distancing himself from hawkish advisers aligned with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaning toward a more pragmatic approach on Iran.
The article outlines two competing camps in Trump’s orbit: a pragmatic, anti-war camp, including Vice President J.D. Vance and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson; and the hawkish camp, comprising National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Trump-era veteran officials Joel Rayburn and Morgan Ortagus, and neoconservative figure Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The Iranian FM, Araghchi, accused Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, of “attempting to brazenly DICTATE what President Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran. The world has also learned how Netanyahu is directly MEDDLING within the U.S. Government to DRAG it into another DISASTER in our region.”
In what seems to be an implicit jab at US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the Iranian foreign minister also noted that “LETHAL support for Netanyahu's Genocide in Gaza and waging WAR on behalf of Netanyahu in Yemen have achieved NOTHING for the American people.”
The US Secretary of Defense had on Thursday issued a stern warning to Iran over its “LETHAL support” to Yemen’s Houthis, warning Tehran, “We know exactly what you are doing,” and “You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”
Later that day, Hegseth, on his personal X account, reposted a mid-March message from US President Trump in which he stated that the Houthi attacks “emanate from” Iran.
“Iran is dictating every move, giving them [Houthis] the weapons, supplying them with money, highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even... intelligence,” the US President then said, warning that “every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN.”
“IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!," the US President charged.
Importantly, Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, on Sunday reshared the same March statement by the US President, commenting that “President Trump is absolutely right! Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran.”
“Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters,” PM Netanyahu added.
The Israeli premier’s remarks came hours after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile strike that hit the vicinity of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday and vowed to impose a "comprehensive" aerial blockade on Israel by repeatedly targeting its airports, in response to its expanding operations in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the US has been escalating its military campaign against the Houthis, conducting over a 1000 strikes against them since early March.
The US strikes are in response to the Houthis’ continued attacks on Israeli commercial vessels or vessels affiliated with Israel in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023. The Yemeni group claims these attacks aim to alleviate pressure on their Palestinian allies in Gaza.
The Houthis, officially known as the Ansarullah Movement, are a key part of the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance.”
However, despite the alignment, Iranian officials have previously stated that the Houthis are acting independently. The chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami in mid-March stated that “Iran has no role in formulating the national or operational policies” of any faction in the Axis, including the Houthis.
Last week, the Houthis forced the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier to take evasive action, reportedly resulting in an F-18 fighter jet falling into the Red Sea. The aircraft is valued at approximately $67 million.
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
But the deal began unraveling in 2018 when Trump, during his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew and imposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic, which in turn began rolling back on its nuclear commitments.
Since April 17, the US and Iran have been engaged in new indirect talks. Axios reported on Sunday that “U.S. and Iranian negotiators are expected to meet later this week for the fourth round of nuclear talks.” However, amid the face-paced developments and escalating tensions in the region, it is unclear how these talks will conclude.
