Donald Trump has been warned American bases in the Middle East will be attack if the president decides to carry out strikes on Iran. The Islamic Republic’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told the news channel Al Jazeera on Saturday that Iranian forces would not strike the United States if Trump gave the green light for an attack.
But he warned “if Washington attacks us…we will attack their bases in the region”.
America has several key military installations in the Middle East, including the massive Al Udeid Air Base in the Gulf state of Qatar, where around 10,000 US military staff are based, as well as RAF personnel. Qatar lies only a couple of hundred miles south across the Persian Gulf from Iran and is easily within range of the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missiles.
The threat comes after Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to reach a deal on the nuclear program after sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships to the region amid Tehran’s crackdown on nationwide protests that killed thousands.
Negotiations have begun between Iran and the US over the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear intentions.
Trump said that the United States had “very good” talks and more were planned for early next week. Washington was being represented by Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Gulf Arab nations fear a US attack could spark a regional war, with memories fresh of the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June.
Iranian foreign minister Mr Araghchi told journalists on Friday that “nuclear talks and the resolution of the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats.” He said that diplomats would return to their capitals, signaling that this round of negotiations was over.
It remains unclear what terms Iran is willing to negotiate at the talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks will only be on its nuclear program.
However, the Al Jazeera satellite news network reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country and pledge to “not initiate the use of ballistic missiles.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the talks needed to include all those issues.
Israel, a close US ally, believes Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon and wants its program scrapped, though Iran has insisted that its atomic plans are for peaceful purposes. Israel also wants a halt to Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region.