Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, took a jibe at Benjamin Netanyahu, after the Israeli Prime Minister asked the US to place range restrictions on Tehran's missiles. Netanyahu now wants to ban Iran from developing missiles that can cross the 480-kilometer range.
Netanyahu laid out three "red lines" for Iran, to avoid further Israeli military action. The red lines include: Limiting Iran's missile range to 480 kilometers, halting uranium enrichment and cutting ties with Hezbollah, Hamas, and other groups in the Middle East.
Araghchi fired back, saying that Netanyahu has "miserably failed" in both Gaza and Iran. He pointed to Netanyahu’s claim of victory in Gaza two years ago, contrasting it with what he described as a military quagmire. He added that Hamas now boasts 200,000 new fighters.
Addressing Israel’s attack on Iran, during which multiple senior Iranian commanders were assassinated by the IDF, Araghchi stated “In Iran, he dreamed that he could erase 40+ years of peaceful nuclear achievements. The end result: every one of the dozen Iranian academics that his mercenaries martyred had trained 100+ capable disciples. They will show Netanyahu what they are capable of.”
Araghchi further mocked Netanyahu, saying that the Israeli PM had to run to what he called "Big Daddy," the United States, after Iranian missiles successfully hit secret military installations inside Israel.
He called out Netanyahu for "openly dictating what the US should or shouldn’t say or do in talks with Iran.”
He emphasized that Netanyahu's hopes of undermining more than four decades of Iran's peaceful nuclear development were delusional.
Araghchi said “Apart from the farce that Iran will accept anything a wanted war criminal has to say, the inevitable question arises: what exactly is Netanyahu smoking? And if nothing, what exactly does the Mossad have on the White House?”
The US and Iran reached a diplomatic impasse after Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran, and assassinated many of the IRGC’s commanders. Tehran has accused the US of breaching trust by bombing Iranian nuclear facilities at Israel's behest.
Iranian leaders claim that the US reached out several times to restart nuclear talks after a ceasefire was reached. But to resume talks, Tehran needs Washington to demonstrate its commitment to dialogue.
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Even if Tehran goes back to the negotiating table, they're not willing to expand discussions beyond uranium enrichment. An issue that was already a sticking point before the 12-day war.
But, with Netanyahu now pushing the US to impose range restrictions on Iran's missile programme, a nuclear deal might be slipping even further away.
