<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Iran is \u201cprepared for peace\u201d and diplomacy with the United States, suggesting that a possible deal between the two countries remains close despite the threats from Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the US television network MS NOW on Friday, Araghchi stressed that Iran\u2019s nuclear programme has no military solution.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cA diplomatic solution is at our reach; we can easily achieve [it],\u201d Araghchi said.<\/p>\n<p>He hit out at the enormous US military build-up in the Middle East, which includes two aircraft carriers and dozens of fighter jets, calling it \u201cunnecessary and unhelpful\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been in this business in the past 20 years and negotiated with different parties. I know that a deal is achievable, but it should be fair and based on a win-win solution,\u201d the top Iranian diplomat said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The] military option would only complicate this, would only bring about disastrous consequences \u2013 not only for us, perhaps for the whole region and for the whole international community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hours after Araghchi\u2019s interview, US President Donald Trump was asked about the possibility of limited strikes against Iran to boost Washington\u2019s negotiating position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess I can say I am considering that,\u201d Trump told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>But Araghchi had warned that Iranians are \u201cproud people\u201d who only respond to the \u201clanguage of respect\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrevious US administrations, even the current US administration, have tried almost everything against us \u2013 war, sanctions, snapback and everything, but none of them worked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The US and Iran have held two rounds of talks over the past month, and officials from both countries have described the negotiations as positive.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the Trump administration has continued to amass military assets around Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Several ship tracking websites reported on Friday that the USS Gerald R Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar en route to the Gulf region.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the US president said Tehran has 10 days to reach a deal with Washington. He later extended the deadline to as many as 15 days. Last week, he said an agreement should be finalised over the next month.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has also been regularly issuing threats to Iran, including warning of \u201csomething very tough\u201d and \u201ctraumatic\u201d consequences for the country.<\/p>\n<p>The US joined Israel\u2019s assault on Iran in June of last year and bombed the country\u2019s three main nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said that the strikes \u201cobliterated\u201d Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions between Washington and Tehran spiked again late last year, when Trump threatened to renew strikes against Iran if it rebuilds its nuclear programme or missile arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>The status of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme has not been confirmed by international monitors, and the whereabouts of the country\u2019s highly enriched uranium remain unknown to the public.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran has insisted on its right to uranium enrichment, which it says does not violate its commitments under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).<\/p>\n<p>But Trump and his top aides have previously said that they want Iran to entirely dismantle its nuclear programme.<\/p>\n<p>Enrichment is the process of isolating and garnering a rare variant-isotope of uranium that can produce nuclear fission.<\/p>\n<p>At low levels, enriched uranium can be used to power electric plants. If enriched to approximately 90 percent, it can be used for nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Iran, which denies seeking a nuclear bomb, has said it is ready to place rigorous monitoring and limits on its enrichment operations, but not give up the programme entirely.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Araghchi said, \u201cThe US side has not asked for zero enrichment,\u201d which appears to contradict the Trump administration\u2019s public stance.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian foreign minister said the next step in the talks will be for Iran to submit a written proposal for a deal to US negotiators, led by Trump\u2019s envoy Steve Witkoff, then the two sides can finalise the text of the agreement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe agreed on a set \u2026 of guiding principles for our negotiation and how a deal can look like,\u201d\u00a0 Araghchi said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we then were asked to prepare a draft of a possible deal. So next time that we meet, we can go into that draft and start negotiating about its language and hopefully, come to a conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Iran is \u201cprepared for peace\u201d and diplomacy with the United States, suggesting that a possible deal between the two countries remains close despite the threats from Washington. Speaking to the US television network MS NOW on Friday, Araghchi stressed that Iran\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}