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27-02-2026
WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN: United States President Donald Trump has told Congress that he would prefer to resolve differences with Tehran through diplomacy, while laying out his case for potential attacks on Iran, which he claimed was seeking to develop missiles that could strike the US mainland.
His comments have drawn an angry response from the Iranian government on Wednesday, the day before the two sides are due to resume indirect talks in Geneva.
During his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday, Trump struck a belligerent tone against Iran, accusing it of working to rebuild its nuclear program that was hit by US strikes last year.
Trump has repeatedly said those sites were obliterated, a claim experts have disputed.
“We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said, as he broached the subject of potential military action against Iran about 90 minutes into his record-length speech.
“We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
Trump said his “preference” was “to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.
“Can’t let that happen,” he added.
Trump said that after the US attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025, “they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, in particular, nuclear weapons yet they continue”.
Iran has insisted for years that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. Neither US intelligence nor the UN’s nuclear watchdog found any evidence last year that Iran was pursuing atomic weapons.
As well as accusing Iran of restarting its nuclear program, Trump claimed Tehran was working to build missiles that “soon” would be capable of reaching the US, echoing claims in Iranian state media that Tehran is developing a missile capable of reaching North America.
He also claimed Iran was responsible for roadside bombings that have killed US service members and civilians.
He criticized Tehran over the deaths of thousands of protesters killed during recent antigovernment demonstrations, claiming that Iranian authorities killed 32,000 people during a crackdown, much higher than the thousands widely believed to have been killed. “The (Iranian) regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate,” Trump said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry responds
Trump’s latest comments on the tensions come amid a significant US military build-up in the Middle East, and before a third round of indirect talks scheduled for Thursday.
The talks, to be held in Geneva and mediated by Oman, will be attended by Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, along with Iranian officials.
The US leader’s comments drew a fierce response from Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, with ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accusing Trump of “big lies” in his claims about his government.
“Professional liars are good at creating the ‘illusion of truth’,” he said in a post on social media. (Int’l News Desk)
