U.S. Leaders 'Only Understand the Language of Threat and Force,' Says Iran Foreign Minister
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, leaves after a press conference in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
Iran’s foreign minister on Sunday downplayed chances of further diplomacy after the U.S. joined Israel in launching airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. “We were in the middle of negotiations,” Abbas Aragchi said about the timing of the U.S. strikes while speaking to reporters in Istanbul. Referring to the Trump administration, he said, “I think they have proved that they are not men of diplomacy and that they only understand the language of threat and force, and this is very unfortunate.”
"President Trump was elected on a platform of putting an end to America's costly involvement in foreign 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," he said.
While the door could be open to diplomacy in the future, Aragchi said, "let’s wait for our response first.” Asked about Iran’s possible military response, he said, “There are a variety of options open to us, and that’s it.”