Iranian Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh (right), along with the chief commander of the Iranian army, General Abdulrahim Mousavi, photo: Iranian army office via Zuma Press Wire / Splash News / Profimedia Images
Iran will hit the American bases in the region if negotiations with Washington on Tehran's nuclear program fail and erupt a conflict with the United States, Iranian Minister of Defense, Aziz, said, quoted by Reuters.
“Some officials on the other side threaten with a conflict if the negotiations do not bear fruit. If we are imposed a conflict … All American bases are in our range and we will bold them in the host countries,” said Nasirzadeh at a weekly press conference.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with bombardments if a new nuclear agreement is not reached.
The next round of negotiations is scheduled for this week, Trump claiming that negotiations will take place on Thursday, while Tehran claims that they will take place on Sunday.
It is expected that Iran will present a counter-proposal to a previous US offer on a nuclear agreement, which the Tehran rejected. Trump said on Tuesday that Iran becomes “much more aggressive” in nuclear negotiations.
The Tehran and Washington are in disagreement on the problem of the enrichment of uranium on the Iranian territory, an aspect that the Western powers consider a possible way to the development of nuclear weapons. Iran claims that its nuclear program is exclusively for civil purposes.
“As we resume discussions on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that guarantees the continuous peace of the Iranian nuclear program is at hand – and could be concluded quickly,” the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on Wednesday.
Iran also rejects the limitations on its rocket program
Another sensitive point in the negotiations was Iran's missile program. The ballistic missiles are an important component of the Iranian arsenal.
Nasirzadeh said that Tehran recently tested a rocket with a two -ton fossa and that he does not accept limitations in this field.
The supreme leader, Ayatollahul Ali Khamena, had said in February that Iran should develop his military capabilities even more, including the missile program.
The stake is high for both sides. President Donald Trump wants to limit the potential of Tehran to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional race of nuclear armor. The Islamic Republic, in turn, wants to escape the devastating sanctions imposed on its dependent economy on oil exports.
Trump, who relaunched the “Maximum Pressure” campaign on the February Tehran, abandoned, in 2018, during his first term, the nuclear agreement concluded with Iran by his predecessor Democrat Barack Obama and has re -imprisoned the hard American sanctions that continue to affect the Iranian economy.
Iran responded by intensifying the enrichment of uranium well beyond the limits set in the 2015 agreement.
