Kremlin says Iran issue can only be solved diplomatically as Tehran rejects Trump talks

Kremlin says Iran issue can only be solved diplomatically as Tehran rejects Trump talks
by AFP Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) April 4, 2025

The Kremlin said Friday that tensions around Iran's nuclear programme could only be solved "diplomatically" and called for "restraint," after US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran if it develops nuclear weapons.

Trump last week had said "there will be bombing" of Iran if it does not drop its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

"The problem of Iran's nuclear dossier can only be solved by political-diplomatic means," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question by AFP, adding that "all sides should show restraint and concentrate on diplomatic efforts".

Trump wants Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal after he pulled the US out of an agreement in 2018 that relieved sanctions on Tehran in return for curbing its nuclear programme.

Russia and Iran are close allies, with Tehran one of the main backers of Moscow's Ukraine offensive.

Moscow on Thursday had denounced Trump's threat as "illegal."

"Using military-forceful methods towards Iran is illegal. Threats of strikes on nuclear energy infrastructure are unacceptable," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding that it could lead to a "global catastrophe."

Iran rejects Trump call for direct nuclear talks
Tehran (AFP) April 6, 2025 - Iran's top diplomat has dismissed direct negotiations with the United States as pointless, his office said Sunday, after US President Donald Trump said he preferred face-to-face talks over its nuclear programme.

Trump sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month calling for negotiations but warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

On Thursday, the US president said he favoured "direct talks", arguing they were "faster" and offered a better understanding than going through intermediaries.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said direct talks made no sense with a country "that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter and that expresses contradictory positions from its various officials".

"We remain committed to diplomacy and are ready to try the path of indirect negotiations," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his ministry.

"Iran keeps itself prepared for all possible or probable events, and just as it is serious in diplomacy and negotiations, it will also be decisive and serious in defending its national interests and sovereignty."

On Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the United States on an "equal footing".

He also questioned Washington's sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying "if you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?"

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution with some regional countries like Oman playing a mediating role between the two sides.

- Letter diplomacy -

Trump's letter was delivered to Iran via the United Arab Emirates, and Tehran responded at the end of March via the Sultanate of Oman.

On Sunday, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, said Iran's response stressed that "we seek peace in the region".

"We are not the ones who start wars, but we will respond to any threat with all our might," he said of the content of Iran's response.

Western countries, led by the United States, have for decades accused Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iran rejects the allegation and maintains that its nuclear activities exist solely for civilian purposes.

In 2015, Iran reached a landmark deal with the permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely the United States, France, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, to limit its nuclear activities.

The 2015 agreement -- known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon.

In 2018, during Trump's first term in office, the United States withdrew from the agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Iran.

A year later, Iran began rolling back on its commitments under the agreement and accelerated its nuclear programme.

On Monday, Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Khamenei, warned that while Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons, it would "have no choice but to do so" in the event of an attack against it.

Trump says wants 'direct talks' with Iran on nukes deal
Washington (AFP) April 4, 2025 - US President Donald Trump said Thursday he wanted "direct talks" with Tehran on a nuclear deal, after he threatened to bomb Iran if it develops nuclear weapons.

Trump has given Iran's leaders a two-month deadline to reach an agreement on the country's nuclear program, which has strained relations with Western nations for decades.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment activities were solely for peaceful purposes.

"I think it's better if we have direct talks," he told reporters onboard the presidential plane Air Force One.

"I think it goes faster and you understand the other side a lot better than if you go through intermediaries."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week that Tehran would not engage in direct talks with Washington "until there is a change in the other side's approach towards the Islamic republic".

Trump in his first term ripped up a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by predecessor Barack Obama and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.

The deal, sealed between Tehran and world powers, had required Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.

"They wanted to use intermediaries, I don't think that's necessarily true anymore," Trump said.

"I think they're concerned, I think they feel vulnerable. I don't want them to feel that way," he added.

"I think they want to meet."

Trump said last month he had written to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to call for nuclear negotiations and warn of possible military action if Tehran refused.

Khamenei responded by saying that US threats "will get them nowhere" and warned of reciprocal measures "if they do anything malign" against Iran.

Trump last week said "there will be bombing" of Iran if it does not drop its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Trump's outreach comes at a weak point for the Islamic republic after Israel decimated two of its allies -- Hamas, the Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and Lebanon's Hezbollah.