Iran Tells Trump that Verifying Its Nuclear Program Is an 'Easy Task'

A 3D-printed miniature model of US President-elect Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ File Photo
A 3D-printed miniature model of US President-elect Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ File Photo
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Iran Tells Trump that Verifying Its Nuclear Program Is an 'Easy Task'

A 3D-printed miniature model of US President-elect Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ File Photo
A 3D-printed miniature model of US President-elect Donald Trump and the US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ File Photo

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Thursday that his country was not seeking a nuclear weapon, a day after US President Donald Trump called for a new agreement to prevent it from obtaining one.

"We are not seeking nuclear weapons," Pezeshkian said in a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran, adding that "verifying this issue is an easy task", AFP reported.

On Wednesday, Trump called for a "verified nuclear peace agreement" with Iran, adding that it "cannot have a Nuclear Weapon".

The US president had a day earlier reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran over allegations the country is seeking nuclear weapons capability.

Iran lambasted the reinstatement of the policy, saying pursuing it again would end in "failure".

Under that policy during his first term, which ended in 2021, Washington withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal that had imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Tehran adhered to the deal -- known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments.

Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.

During Thursday's meeting, which was broadcast on television, Pezeshkian referred to a long-standing fatwa, or religious edict, by Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei prohibiting atomic weapons.

He noted that Iran was not pursuing such weapons because "massacring innocent people is not acceptable in the doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran".



US Will Not Send Troops to Ukraine, Pentagon Chief Hegseth Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of US European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of US European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)
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US Will Not Send Troops to Ukraine, Pentagon Chief Hegseth Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of US European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of US European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)

President Donald Trump's administration is not sending US troops into Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday.

Speaking with reporters in Germany, Hegseth also said that he would push European allies to spend more on defense when he meets with them this week.

"The European continent deserves to be free from any aggression, but it ought be those in the neighborhood investing the most in that individual and collective defense," Hegseth said.