By FARNOUSH AMIRI and SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump warned Friday about the possibility of ordering limited strikes against Iran, even as the Islamic nation’s top diplomat says his country hopes to have a proposed deal ready in the coming days after a series of nuclear talks with the United States.
In response to a reporter’s question about whether the United States could take limited military action while the two countries negotiate, Trump responded: “I guess I can say I’m considering it.” Hours later he told reporters that “(Iran) had better negotiate a fair deal.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said in a television interview that his country planned to finalize a draft agreement in “the next two or three days” to send it to Washington.
“I don’t think it will take long. Maybe in a matter of a week or so, we can start real, serious negotiations on the text and reach a conclusion,” Araghchi told MSNOW’s “Morning Joe.”
Tensions between the two old adversaries have intensified as Washington pushes for concessions from Iran, building up its largest military presence in the Middle East in several decades, while more warships and aircraft are on the way. Both countries have signaled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program do not produce results.
“We are prepared for diplomacy and we are prepared for negotiation as much as we are prepared for war,” Araghchi said on Friday.
Ali Vaez, an Iran expert for the International Crisis Group, said the Islamic Republic would “treat any kinetic action as an existential threat.”
Vaez noted that he doesn’t think Iran’s government is bluffing when it says it would retaliate, while it probably believes it can stay in power despite any U.S. airstrike.
Trump said Wednesday that 10 or 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal after recent rounds of indirect negotiations – including one this week in Geneva – yielded no visible progress. But talks have been stalled for years after Trump made the decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the nuclear deal Iran signed in 2015 with world powers. Since then, Iran has refused to discuss broader demands from Washington and Israel that it reduce its missile program and sever ties with armed groups.
Araghchi also noted Friday that his U.S. counterparts have not called for him to stop enriching uranium as part of the latest round of talks, contradicting public statements by U.S. officials.
“What we are talking about right now is how to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and remains peaceful forever,” he explained.
He added that Iran will implement some confidence-building measures in exchange for economic sanctions relief.
In response to Araghchi’s claim, a White House official said Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the ability to build them, and that it cannot enrich uranium. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations must focus solely on its nuclear program and that it has not been enriching uranium since the United States and Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities last June. Trump said at the time that his offensive had “wiped out” Iran’s nuclear facilities, although the extent of the damage is unknown as Tehran has prevented access to international inspectors.
Iran has also insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful. The United States and other countries suspect that it is aimed at the eventual development of weapons.
Trump’s comments have faced objections from some lawmakers, who say the president should get congressional approval before any attack.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said Friday that he has introduced a war powers resolution that would require congressional approval. While the initiative has no chance of becoming law — in part because it would require Trump’s own signature — some bipartisan consensus has recently emerged among senators who forced votes on previous measures related to military actions in Venezuela.
None of those resolutions passed, but they did manage to reflect lawmakers’ concerns about some of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy maneuvers.
“If some of my colleagues are pro-war, then they should have the guts to vote for war and be accountable to their constituents, instead of hiding under their desks,” Kaine said in a statement. ___
Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Ben Finley and Stephen Groves in Washington, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
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