Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday accused Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to drag the United States into ‘disaster’ in the Middle East, warning against any attempt to attack Iran.
‘Netanyahu is directly MEDDLING within the US Government to DRAG it into another DISASTER in our region,’ Araghchi said on X, warning against ‘ANY mistake against Iran’.
Araghchi also accused Netanyahu of ‘attempting to brazenly DICTATE what president Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran’.
Iran’s top diplomat cited US support for Israel in its war in Gaza against Palestinian group Hamas since the unprecedented October 2023 attack by the militants.
It also referred to the US retaliatory strikes against the Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, whose attacks have targeted Washington’s ally Israel and Red Sea shipping.
‘LETHAL support for Netanyahu’s Genocide in Gaza and waging WAR on behalf of Netanyahu in Yemen have achieved NOTHING for the American people,’ he said.
On Sunday, Netanyahu blamed Iran and vowed retaliation after the Huthis launched a missile which struck near Israel’s Ben Gurion’s airport.
Iran denied any role in the attack.
Araghchi’s remarks also came after the latest round of nuclear talks with the US, which were meant for May 3, were delayed with mediator Oman citing ‘logistical reasons.’
The two countries have held three rounds since April 12, their highest-level contact since Washington withdrew from a landmark deal with Tehran in 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term as US president.
Netanyahu has called for dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, saying a credible deal must ‘remove Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons’ and prevent the development of ballistic missiles.
On Sunday, Trump said he would only accept ‘the total dismantlement’ of Iran’s nuclear programme, but also signalled openness to discussing one for civilian use.
‘Now, there’s a new theory going out there that Iran would be allowed to have civilian (programme) -- meaning to make electricity,’ he told NBC News, adding that he ‘would be open to hearing’ the argument.
Tehran has consistently denied that it was seeking atomic weapons, insisting that its atomic programme is solely for civilian purposes.
Araghchi reiterated that if the goal was for Iran to not have a nuclear weapon, ‘a deal is achievable and there is only ONE PATH to achieve it: DIPLOMACY based on MUTUAL RESPECT and MUTUAL INTERESTS.’
