WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi held a press conference in which he condemned the US attacks and said that Donald Trump had deceived his own voters with promises that he would "no longer interfere in 'eternal wars'."
"Although President Trump was elected on a promise to end America's costly involvement in perpetual wars in our part of the world, he has betrayed not only Iran by abusing our commitment to diplomacy, but also deceived his own voters," Araghchi said, describing Trump and the United States as "thugs who do not respect the law."
The Iranian foreign minister also warned the world that "silence will push the world into unprecedented danger and chaos," and called for broader condemnation of the US attacks.
He added that diplomatic talks were "irrelevant," noting that Israel and the US have attacked Iran in the midst of such talks in the past.
When Al Jazeera asked him what it would take for Tehran to return to the diplomatic table, Araghchi replied that "there is no red line that the US has not already crossed."
"I think it is irrelevant to ask Iran to return to diplomacy because we were in the middle of diplomacy, we were in the middle of talks with the United States when the Israelis threw it all away. And again, we were in the middle of talks and negotiations with the Europeans just two days ago in Geneva, and this time the Americans decided to destroy all of that. So every time we turned to diplomacy, we were attacked," he added.
Reporters also asked him what he made of Donald Trump's warning that Iran must make peace now or face far greater attacks in the future.
"I don't think it's up to Iran to respond to that. The entire international community should respond to such a clear threat. Iran has done nothing wrong. "We don't understand why Iran should be attacked because of the false accusation that we are seeking nuclear weapons," the minister replied.
He said that Iran has been trying to prove for 20 years that its nuclear program is peaceful and will remain so, and reminded that the world "celebrated" the nuclear agreement reached under the Obama administration, from which Trump then withdrew.
"We negotiated again with the same administration, and then suddenly they decided to attack us," he said, adding that more attacks are now being threatened.
"So it is not up to Iran, but to the international community to condemn this, to prevent this - otherwise there will be nothing left for international law, for security on a global level."
"I am going to Moscow to meet with Putin"
The Iranian foreign minister revealed at a press conference that he is going to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin, and it is known that Iran and Russia have long maintained close ties.
"I am going to Moscow this afternoon, and tomorrow morning I have a meeting with President Putin," said Aragchi, who describes Russia as "Iran's friend" and that "they always consult each other."
"Even in the last two or three months that we have been negotiating with the United States, we have always informed our Russian friends about the latest offer, about any progress or lack of progress in our talks. Tomorrow I will have serious consultations with the Russian president and we continue to cooperate," Aragchi said.
