Iran’s top diplomat said Sunday that Tehran’s strength lies in its ability to “say no to great powers,” taking a tough line after talks with the United States over its nuclear program and amid nationwide protests, according to the AP.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told diplomats at a summit in Tehran that Iran would maintain its stance on preserving the right to enrich uranium – a key point of contention with US President Donald Trump, who ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
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While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday described talks with US officials in Oman as a “step forward”, Araghchi’s comments underlined the lingering difficulties.
The United States has already deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, along with other ships and warplanes, to the Middle East in an effort to pressure Iran into a deal and ensure it has the military capability to strike the Islamic Republic if President Trump chooses to do so.
“I believe that the secret of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power lies in its ability to resist bullying, domination and pressure from others,” Araghchi said. “They are afraid of our atomic bomb, while we are not looking for an atomic bomb. Our atomic bomb is the power to say no to the great powers. The secret of the power of the Islamic Republic is the power to say no to the great powers.”
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Iran will never give up its right to enrich uranium even if “war is imposed on us”, its foreign minister said despite pressure from Washington, AFP reported. “Iran has paid a very high price for its peaceful nuclear program and uranium enrichment,” Abbas Araghchi said at a forum in Tehran.
“Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even when war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior,” he said two days after meeting US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman.
“Atomic bomb” as a rhetorical device
Araghchi’s choice to explicitly use “atomic bomb” as a rhetorical device was probably not accidental. Although Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency say that until 2003 Tehran had an organized military program to find a bomb.
Pezeshkian, who ordered Araghchi to resume talks with the Americans after presumably getting Khamenei’s blessing, also wrote on Sunday X about the talks.
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“The talks between Iran and the US, based on the follow-up efforts of friendly governments in the region, were a step forward,” the president wrote. “Dialogue has always been our strategy for a peaceful solution… The Iranian nation has always responded to respect with respect, but it does not tolerate the language of force.”
It remains unclear when, where, or if there will be a second round of talks. Trump offered few details after Friday’s talks, but said: “Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly — as it should.”
An aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea
US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the US Army’s Central Command, was in Oman during Friday’s talks. Cooper’s presence was likely a deliberate reminder to Iran of the US military presence in the region. Cooper later accompanied US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, to Lincoln in the Arabian Sea after indirect talks, the AP reported.
Araghchi appears to be taking the threat of a US military strike seriously, as many Iranians have worried in recent weeks. He noted that after several rounds of talks last year, the US “attacked us in the middle of the negotiations”.
“If you take a step back (in negotiations), it’s not clear where it will go,” Araghchi said.
Iran’s foreign minister said on Sunday that his country was not intimidated by the deployment of the US Navy in the Persian Gulf. “Their military deployment in the region does not scare us,” Abbas Araghchi said after US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff visited the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the region, AFP reported.
(With input from agencies)