Tensions between the United States and Iran are not abating. Just days after the nuclear talks in Oman, President Trump reiterated again that should diplomacy fail, military action would be “absolutely possible.”
After the MAGA leader’s recent statements, a high-ranking adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, in turn explained that Iran could expel the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in charge of nuclear oversight because of the “threats” coming from the White House.
“Transfer of enriched materials to secure locations may also be considered,” he added, most likely referring to the country’s uranium.
The U.S. Department of State warned Tehran against making rash decisions. As stated by Tammy Bruce, spokeswoman for the agency, “The threat of that kind of action, of course, is inconsistent with Iran’s claims of a peaceful nuclear programme. Also, expelling IAEA inspectors from Iran would be an escalation and a miscalculation on Iran’s part.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on April 12 for talks that the U.S. has described as the last chance for a peaceful resolution of Western concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. In recent months, Tehran has consistently denied that it wants to acquire nuclear weapons.
“We hope that will lead to peace,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week, “We’re hopeful about that.” However, the delicacy of the situation has not deterred President Trump from making incendiary comments over the past few days.
The MAGA leader reiterated that should the talks come to nothing, the military option will most likely be considered. “If it requires military, we’re going to have military”, Trump said, “Israel will obviously be very much involved in that, be the leader of that.”
Meanwhile, on April 9, the United States announced new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program ahead of the talks, while the following day the State Department said it would impose sanctions on Iran’s oil network as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran.
