nuclear-news

Trump open to Iran talks only if it abandons nuclear program, says US official

Iran International 16 Feb 25

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Sunday said President Donald Trump is willing to engage in talks with Iran only on condition that Tehran fully abandon its nuclear program.

“The President has also expressed a willingness to take whatever action is necessary. All options are on the table,” Waltz told Fox News on Sunday, leaving the option of diplomatic channels open.

“They [Iran] are an irrational actor that we cannot allow to have their finger on the button,” he added.

He explained that Trump is willing “to talk to Iran” only on condition of giving up the “entire [nuclear] program and not play games as we’ve seen Iran do in the past”.

Waltz said that Iran’s nuclear program – which the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog last year said is “weeks not months” from a weapon – could not only pose a threat to the region, but globally.

“President Trump is absolutely serious, deadly serious, when he says Iran can never have a nuke, and certainly not on his watch,” Waltz said.

“That not only would be existential for Israel, I think it would be existential for the entire world, because it could kick off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” he added.

‘No outreach from Iran’

Trump’s state secretary, Marco Rubio, told CBS later on Sunday that the US administration does not “have any outreach from Iran.”…………………………………………… more https://www.iranintl.com/en/202502164969

February 18, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, USA