Witkov: Trump’s message to Khamenei is an attempt to avoid a military solution news
The US Middle East envoy Stephen Whitkov said today, Sunday, that President Donald Trump’s message to Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei on a new nuclear agreement is an attempt to avoid military action.
“Our message to Iran is: Let’s sit together and see whether, through dialogue and diplomacy, we can reach the right solution. If we can, we are ready for that. If we cannot, the alternative is not a good option,” Witkeov told Fox News.
“We do not need to solve everything militarily,” he added.
Trump said this month that he sent the message to Khamenei, and warned that “there are two ways to deal with Iran: militarily or by concluding an agreement.”
Khamenei rejected the American offer to hold talks and described it as “deception”, and said that negotiating with the Trump administration “would lead to tightening sanctions and increasing pressure on Iran.”
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakji said on Thursday that Tehran will soon respond to the “threats and opportunities” in the letter. Today, Sunday, he warned against the impossibility of talking with the United States unless it changes the pressure policy it pursues.
Nuclear dismantling
In a separate interview with the “CBS News” network, White House National Security Adviser Mike Wallis said that the United States is seeking to “dismantle” the Iranian nuclear program.
“Iran must abandon its program in a way that the whole world can see,” he added.
“As President Trump said, the situation is close to its peak. All options are on the ground, and it is time for Iran to completely abandon its desire to have a nuclear weapon.”
Tehran has long been says that its program is only intended for peaceful purposes.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said last month that the time is running out to reach an agreement to curb the Iranian nuclear program, while continuing Tehran to accelerate uranium enrichment to nearly the degree of weapons.
While Trump left the door open to the conclusion of a nuclear agreement with Tehran, he worked back with the policy of “maximum pressure” he followed in his first term, and includes efforts to reduce Iran’s oil exports to scratch.
The United States has imposed 4 rounds of sanctions on Iranian oil sales since Trump returned to the White House on January 20.
