Iran says attack on its nuclear sites would be ‘crazy,’ but rejects talks with US
FM Abbas Araghchi dismisses Israeli threats of military action as ‘not real,’ warns Iranians are engaged in a ‘hot debate’ over pulling out of non-proliferation pact

Iran’s foreign minister said in comments aired Tuesday that an attack on the country’s nuclear facilities would be “crazy” and badly harm the region, but also put dampers on the possibility of negotiations with the US, demanding Washington first curry favor with Tehran.
Abbas Araghchi also offered a rare Iranian admission that its client terror groups Hezbollah and Hamas had been weakened, while claiming they would regroup and quipping that US President Donald Trump should ship Israelis to Greenland instead of moving Gazans out of the Strip.
Speaking to Sky News in Iran, Araghchi downplayed Israeli threats that it could take action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“We have made it clear that any attack to our nuclear facilities would be faced with an immediate and decisive response,” Araghchi said in English. “But I don’t think they will do that crazy thing.”
“This is really crazy. And this would turn the whole region into a very bad disaster,” he added. But he insisted that Israeli saber-rattling “was not a real threat.”
On Thursday, Trump refused to answer if the US would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Hopefully that can be worked out without having to worry about it,” he said. “It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step.”

But Araghchi said Iran wasn’t ready to negotiate with the Trump administration and threatened that Tehran could pull out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if no deal on its nuclear program is reached.
“The situation is different and much more difficult than the previous time,” he said. “Lots of things should be done by the other side to buy our confidence.”
Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, but has ramped up uranium enrichment to nearly military-grade levels and built up its stockpile of fissile material since Trump pulled out of the a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018, reimposing punishing sanctions.
“We tried the path of negotiations and confidence building… but then it turned into a bad experience, sanctions came back,” he said.

The top Iranian diplomat said October would be crucial, setting it as a deadline for a decision on the matter. That month is the last day world powers still party to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action can still fully reimpose sanctions, a move that Araghchi has said would be met with Iran withdrawing from the NPT.
“It is under consideration. There is a hot debate going on in Iran about that alternative,” he said. “The debates are very hot. At all levels.”
Araghchi described massive blows dealt by Israel to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the toppling of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad — all allies of Iran — as “things that happen.”

But pressed on the issue, he admitted that the groups had been “rendered several serious blows.”
“Hamas and Hezbollah have been damaged. But at the same time, they are rebuilding themselves,” he said, switching to Farsi.
At the same time, Araghchi laughed off Trump’s suggestion that Gazans be moved to Jordan and Egypt after 15 months of war in the Strip, getting in a jab about the US president’s plans to snatch land from Denmark.
“My suggestion is something else,” he chuckled. “Instead of Palestinians, try to expel Israelis, take them to Greenland so they can kill two birds with one stone.”