Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Monday, May 5, that Israel is trying to sabotage the ongoing talks with the US by influencing US foreign policy. He also expressed hope that a deal over his country’s nuclear program is within reach if parties of the talk avoid “unrealistic and irrational positions.”
“Netanyahu is attempting to brazenly dictate what President Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran. The world has also learned how Netanyahu is directly meddling within the US government to drag it into another disaster in our region,” Araghchi posted on X.
Claiming that “lethal support for Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza and waging war on behalf of Netanyahu in Yemen have achieved nothing for the Americans” apart from wasting billions of dollars of US taxpayer’s money, Araghchi warned that any adventure against Iran would be much more costly.
“Netanyahu conned the failed Biden team into handing over an unprecedented 23 billion American taxpayer’s dollars. That is a fraction of the cost of any mistake against Iran,” Aragahchi said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his desire to bomb Iran, accusing it of developing nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu had also claimed he was opposed to the ongoing talks between the US and Iran unless it resulted in the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure as per the Libyan model of 2003.
Netanyahu renews threats after Yemen strike near Tel Aviv
In the wake of Yemen’s strike near Ben Gurion airport on Sunday, Netanyahu renewed his threats to attack Iran, accusing it of supporting Ansar Allah.
Ansar Allah has been targeting Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, which have been facing Israel’s genocidal attacks since October 2023. They even announced a complete air blockade on Israel on Sunday.
Read more: Yemen’s Ansar Allah announces comprehensive aerial blockade on Israel
For its operations in solidarity with Gaza, the US has subjected Yemen to ongoing airstrikes and bombing campaigns, intensifying its aggression as recently as last week. However, on Tuesday, May 6, Donald Trump announced that the US will immediately stop bombing Yemen. Oman confirmed that it mediated a formal ceasefire between the two parties. Ansar Allah did not say that their attacks on Israel would stop, although the agreement stipulates that US vessels won’t be targeted in the Red Sea. Al Jazeera reported that the de-escalation may be “reflected on the Iranian-American talks” potentially providing an incentive for “the nuclear talks to be done quicker.”
Iran has denied any involvement in Yemen’s responses to Israeli aggressions against Palestinians and called such accusations “unfounded, provocative and politically motivated” and repeated its warning that “any act of military adventurism by the US or its proxy, the Israeli regime, whether targeting Iran’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, or its national and vital interests, will be met with a swift, proportionate, and lawful response.”
A deal is possible
Araghchi’s claim that a pro-Israel minority in the Trump administration is trying hard to derail the ongoing indirect talks with Iran and is deliberately pushing the US to make impossible demands was based on reports in the US press about the same.
Araghchi made similar accusations against Israel in April, accusing it of being behind Trump’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.
On Monday, Araghchi repeated his call asking Trump to protect his foreign policy from Israeli influence.
So far, three rounds of indirect talks have been held between Iranian and US delegations. The fourth round of talks scheduled to be held on May 3 in Rome was postponed. Both Omani mediators and Araghchi have claimed the postponement was due to logistical and technical reasons. The fourth round of talks is expected to resume on May 9.
During his interview with “Meet the Press” on Sunday, US president Donald Trump vaguely talked about Iran’s “full nuclear disarmament” being the goal of the talks.
Commenting on Iran’s insistence on not abandoning its civilian nuclear program, Trump said that “civilian energy often leads to military wars.” However, Trump did not explicitly deny the possibility of accepting Iran’s demands.
“The only thing they can’t have is nuclear weapons,” Trump said. Araghchi responded to this by saying that “a deal is achievable and there is only one path to achieve it: diplomacy based on mutual respect and mutual interest.
In a phone conversation with EU high representative Kaja Kallas on Monday, Araghchi also emphasized that “It is possible to reach an agreement in this regard but it requires avoidance of unrealistic and irrational positions,” IRNA reported.
