Trump Says He Wants To Work On 'Nuclear Peace Agreement' With Iran Immediately

US President Donald Trump has said on his Truth Social post that he preferred a "verified nuclear peace agreement" with Iran.

In the post on Wednesday, Trump shunned that reports of US and Israel "blowing Iran into smithereens" were "greatly exaggerated".

“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”

He also said that he wants Iran to become a "great and successful country" but it "cannot have a Nuclear Weapon", a day after he signed an order reinstating a "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran over allegations that it was trying to develop such weapons. 

During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, and reimposed biting sanctions.

The deal -- known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-- imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.

Iran denies seeking to build nuclear weapons, insisting its program is solely for peaceful purposes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters Wednesday he believed Trump's maximum pressure policy "is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure."

He also reiterated that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.

"If the main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, it is achievable and is not much of a problem," Araghchi said.

A longstanding religious decree, or fatwa, issued by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, prohibits Iran from possessing a nuclear arsenal.

On Wednesday, Iran's nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying "Iran does not have, and will not have a nuclear weapons program."