Iran Warns Trump, Agreement Cannot Be Won Through Threats
Hours after U.S. strikes on targets in Iran, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations urged President Trump to abandon the language of threats: “Coercion will not lead to a diplomatic solution.”
Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, appealed early Thursday to U.S. President Donald Trump and demanded that he stop his repeated threats against Tehran. The remarks were made during an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, against the backdrop of continued military escalation between the two countries. “A long-term agreement cannot be achieved through threats, intimidation or the use of force,” Iravani said in a speech to the Security Council. The Iranian ambassador added, “The President of the United States must refrain from his repeated threats against Iran, including the renewed threat to resort to force, which he raised today.”
The comments came just hours after President Trump held a dramatic meeting at the White House on the possibility of renewing fighting against Iran, and hours after U.S. strikes on targets in Iran. Senior U.S. administration officials took part in the meeting, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
The Iranian appeal came amid a new round of tensions between Washington and Tehran. The United States carried out broad military strikes in the past two days against Iranian targets, including air defense systems, communications sites and military surveillance arrays. According to U.S. Central Command, the strikes were carried out in response to Iran’s “unjustified and ongoing aggression,” and were aimed at capabilities that posed a threat to American forces and to international merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the same time as the military activity, Qatari mediators tried to advance contacts between the two countries. Qatari representatives held talks this week with senior Iranian officials in Tehran, in an effort to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough and prevent further escalation.
Trump has said in recent days that if no deal is reached with Iran, the United States will “hit them hard again.” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said the United States would attack “key sites in the country” if necessary. According to the defense secretary, “We used the ceasefire to improve the intelligence we have and update the target bank in Iran. The target bank and our operational capabilities today are much larger and more advanced than those we had at the beginning of the war.”
