ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - United States President Donald Trump on Friday said his preference is to negotiate with Tehran, but cautioned that “bad things” would happen if no agreement is made after Iran responded to his overture to restart nuclear talks.
“As you probably know, [I] sent them a letter just recently, and I said, you have to make a decision one way or the other, and we can either have to talk and talk it out, or very bad things are going to happen to Iran. And I don't want that to happen. I don't want that. 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,” Trump told reporters.
“Iran makes a lot of drones. They make very effective drones. They do very effectively at some things, but Iran is very high on my list of things to watch,” he added.
On March 7, Trump told Fox Business that he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, signaling openness to new nuclear negotiations, but threatened possible military action if Iran refuses to cooperate stating, “If we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them.”
The letter was delivered by a senior Emirati diplomat, according to the Associated Press.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday said that Iran has responded to Trump’s letter through Oman and that Tehran will not engage directly with Washington as long as the US continues its maximum pressure campaign and military threats.
He had earlier described Trump’s message as “mostly threatening, but it also claims there are opportunities. We will examine the dimensions of both the threats and the opportunities,” but said “certain things have to change” for negotiations to begin again.
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions. The deal began unraveling in 2018 when Trump, during his first term, unilaterally withdrew the US from the accord and reimposed biting sanctions on Iran.
Tehran waited a year and then gradually ramped up its nuclear activities.
After returning to office, Trump in early February restored his maximum pressure policy on Tehran, arguing that it is “too close” to a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s expanding drone production has drawn increased attention from the international community in recent years. Tehran has been accused of supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, particularly by supplying drones and spare weapon parts to Moscow. The US has imposed sanctions in connection with Iran’s drone program.
