In a statement regarding Trump's plan for Gaza, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that "Tehran has always supported any initiative that includes stopping ethnic cleansing and war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and provides the basis for realizing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
US President Donald Trump made significant remarks about Iran during a cabinet meeting to discuss the Gaza deal, saying: "Iran wants to work for peace and we will work with them."
He went on to say "Tehran has acknowledged that it supports the Israeli ceasefire, Hamas and the hostage agreement, and we are grateful to them for that."
Of course, the US president did not hold back and once again claimed: "Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. We have sanctioned them. If we had not bombed Iran, they probably would have had multiple nuclear weapons, but we will work with Iran. We would like them to be able to rebuild their country."
Trump's words about cooperation with Iran after the Gaza ceasefire are noteworthy. These words were made in light of Iran's approach to the Gaza ceasefire.
Earlier, Al-Jaridah newspaper, citing an informed source in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, claimed that in recent days, contacts had been made between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Steve Witkoff, the US envoy to the region.
These contacts were about resuming talks between the two countries on the Iranian nuclear issue, negotiations that were suspended after Israel and US surprise attack on Iran last June.
According to the source, the last contact between the two sides took place last Saturday night, in which the two sides agreed on the need to return to the negotiating table. He added that, depending on the atmosphere of the talks, there is a possibility that several secret meetings between Tehran and Washington will be held in Oman or Qatar next week to discuss the necessary coordination before the official start of the talks.
According to the source, before Saturday’s call, Witkoff took the initiative and contacted Araqchi, urging Iran to support President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war — a plan that has been initially agreed upon by both sides, Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement, and has drawn widespread positive reactions at the regional and international levels.
The source added: In response, Araqchi announced Iran’s support for the Hamas political bureau’s position and for any plan that would lead to an end to the bloodshed in Gaza. However, Witkoff asked Araqchi to make an official statement of support for the plan not only from Iran, but also from some of its allies — especially Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Of course, Araqchi has denied the “telephone conversation” claimed by the newspaper. But it is not clear whether there was any other form of contact.
Iran responded cautiously to this request. In a statement on Trump’s Gaza plan, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had stated that “Tehran has always supported any initiative that includes stopping ethnic cleansing and war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and that paves the way for the realization of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”
However, the same statement warned of the dangerous dimensions of this proposal, as well as “Israel’s betrayal and obstruction in fulfilling its commitments.”
“Considering the dangerous dimensions and aspects of this plan, and while warning again against the Zionist regime’s repeated breach of promise and obstruction in fulfilling its promises, especially in light of its expansionist and racist plans, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers any decision in this regard to be within the competence of the Palestinian people and resistance, and welcomes any decision they make that includes stopping the genocide of the Palestinians, the withdrawal of the Zionist occupying army from Gaza, respecting the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the entry of humanitarian aid, and the reconstruction of Gaza.”
The new statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect also states: The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported any action and initiative that includes stopping the genocidal war, withdrawing the occupying forces, bringing in humanitarian aid, releasing Palestinian prisoners, and realizing the fundamental rights of the Palestinians.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that there were strong signs that Iran wanted to see the Gaza ceasefire through.
In the same context, Lebanon’s Hezbollah unexpectedly backed down from its previous positions last night. Earlier, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem had strongly attacked Trump’s plan, but now the party has announced that it will support any decision Hamas makes — a decision that Hamas has also announced its initial agreement with Trump’s plan.
Lebanese sources told Al-Jarida that Hezbollah has “corrected” its position after receiving calls from Iran and Hamas.
On the other hand, the Iranian source added that Wittkoff has tried to link the resumption of nuclear talks to achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, in an attempt to motivate Tehran to use its influence over its allies, especially Hamas, to respond positively to the US proposal.
In return, Araqchi reiterated Iran’s conditions for resuming talks, which include: recognizing Iran’s “right” to enrich uranium; rejecting any negotiations on Iran’s missile program; and not linking the nuclear file to regional issues.
In response, Witkoff informed Araqchi of Washington’s readiness to work in the Security Council to lift UN sanctions on Iran that had been reimposed under the 2015 nuclear deal under the Snapback mechanism, the source said.
Of course, US President Donald Trump had warned at the anniversary of the founding of the US Navy: “Iran should not have a nuclear bomb. We fired 30 Tomahawk missiles from our fleet. We destroyed Iran’s nuclear potential, we had been practicing for 22 years to attack Iran’s nuclear sites… If Iran restarts its nuclear program, we will not wait that long to attack Iran again.”
In response to Trump’s ridiculous remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi wrote: “When I left for the fifth round of talks with Mr. Wittkoff on June 2, I wrote:
Zero nuclear weapons = we have an agreement.
Zero enrichment = no agreement.
If the President of the United States took a look at the minutes of these negotiations, recorded by the mediator, he would see how close we came to celebrating a new and historic nuclear agreement.
The President of the United States should remember that there was never any information that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction. Only unimaginable destruction, thousands of American deaths, and seven trillion dollars of American taxpayer money wasted.
Similarly, there is no “information” that suggests that Iran would have been “within a month” closer to developing a nuclear weapon if Israel had not tricked the United States into attacking the Iranian people. With that operation having failed, Israel is now trying to paint an imaginary threat from Iran’s defensive power. Americans are tired of fighting Israel’s “endless wars.”
Iran is a “great” country and the Iranians are a “great” people, the heirs of an ancient “great” civilization. "Buildings and machinery may be destroyed, but our will will never be broken. Further insistence on this miscalculation will not solve any problem. There is no solution except to reach a 'negotiated solution.'"
