Trump calls for ‘verified nuclear peace agreement’ with Iran amid tensions

(AFP): US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with Iran, after withdrawing from a similar deal in his first term and instituting a so-called “maximum pressure” policy.

On Tuesday, ahead of a meeting with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump signed an order reinstating the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran over allegations the country is seeking a nuclear weapons capability.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” he said early Wednesday in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper.”

The post echoed a similar message in his press conference a day earlier with Netanyahu, who also said Tehran could never have a nuclear weapon.

Trump on Wednesday dismissed reports that the United States was working with Israel “to blow Iran into smithereens” as “GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”

“We should start working on it (the agreement) immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed,” he said.

During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, and reimposed biting sanctions.

The deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.

Iran denies seeking to build nuclear weapons, insisting its program is solely for peaceful purposes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters Wednesday he believed Trump’s maximum pressure policy “is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure.”

He also reiterated that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.

“If the main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, it is achievable and is not much of a problem,” Araghchi said.

A longstanding religious decree, or fatwa, issued by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, prohibits Iran from possessing a nuclear arsenal.

On Wednesday, Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying “Iran does not have, and will not have a nuclear weapons program.”