Trump had threatened to ‘annihilate’ Iran from same podium Tuesday
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told NPR’s Morning Edition on Wednesday that the Trump administration is “internalizing what they brought to the table.” The remarks came a day after President Trump used the same UN General Assembly podium to threaten to “annihilate” Iran if it does not make a deal.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said he faced “a big decision”: make a deal with Iran that lets the country rebuild or “annihilate the Islamic Republic.” He reiterated that the United States would not permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Trump said after the address that U.S. officials had met with Iranian counterparts for three hours.
On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the General Assembly and offered negotiations. “Yesterday the United States president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism,” Pezeshkian said from the General Assembly rostrum. The Iranian president displayed a portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran — and photographs he identified as children killed in a U.S. strike on an Iranian school.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said on social media that an exchange of messages between Iran and the United States had taken place with Qatar as mediator. He said Iran’s conditions included halting U.S. hostilities, an end to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and the release of Iranian funds.
Speaking at the United Nations, Pezeshkian denied that Iran sought a nuclear weapon but refused limitations on the country’s civilian nuclear program. He also expressed a willingness to negotiate.
“It must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” Pezeshkian said.