As President Donald Trump said Wednesday he preferred a verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran, according to a post on his Truth Social account, Iran said it is ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes between the arch foes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday.
U.S. concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons are not a complicated issue and can be resolved given Tehran's opposition to weapons of mass destruction, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday.
"If the main concern is that Iran should not pursue nuclear weapons, this is achievable and not a complicated issue. Iran's position is clear: it is a member of the Non Proliferation Treaty, and the Supreme Leader's fatwa has already clarified our stance [against weapons of mass destruction]," Araqchi said.
"Maximum pressure is a failed experience and trying it again will lead to another failure."
Trump initiated the "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran during his first term, after exiting a nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers which had lifted international sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear program.
Since then, Iran has dramatically accelerated enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters in December.
The official said Tehran disagreed with "any displacement of Gazans, but Iran-U.S. talks are a separate matter," referring to Trump's remarks that the U.S. would take over war-ravaged Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
"Iran does not agree with any displacement of Palestinians and has communicated this through various channels. However, this issue and the path of Iran's nuclear agreement are two separate matters and should be pursued separately," the official said.
The official said Tehran wanted the United States to "rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal" with the Islamic Republic.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that U.S. concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons were not a complicated issue and could be resolved given Tehran's opposition to weapons of mass destruction.
Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Tehran has long said its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and it has no intention to build nuclear weapons
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that claims that Tehran was seeking to kill U.S. officials were "fabrications by warmongers" and that Iran sought legal pathways to seek justice for the killing of its senior officials.
These include Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed in a U.S. air strike in 2020.
The remarks follow Trump's comments on Tuesday that Iran would be obliterated if it sought to kill him.
© 2025 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.