{"id":494295,"date":"2026-02-21T08:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/494295\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:46:07","slug":"iran-preparing-nuclear-counterproposal-as-trump-warns-he-is-considering-limited-military-strikes-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/494295\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran preparing nuclear counterproposal as Trump warns he is considering limited military strikes | Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran\u2019s foreign minister has said he expects to have a draft counterproposal ready within days after nuclear talks with the US this week, while Donald Trump<\/a> said he was considering limited military strikes.<\/p>\n

Two US officials told Reuters that US military<\/a> planning on Iran had reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing leadership change in Tehran, if ordered by Trump.<\/p>\n

The US president on Thursday gave Tehran a deadline of 10 to 15 days<\/a> to make a deal to resolve their longstanding nuclear dispute or face \u201creally bad things\u201d amid a US military buildup in the Middle East that has fuelled fears of a wider war.<\/p>\n

Asked on Friday if he was considering a limited strike to pressure Iran<\/a> into a deal, Trump told reporters at the White House: \u201cI guess I can say I am considering\u201d it. Asked later about Iran at a White House press conference, Trump added: \u201cThey better negotiate a fair deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said after indirect discussions in Geneva this week with Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner that the sides had reached an understanding on main \u201cguiding principles\u201d<\/a>, but that did not mean a deal was imminent.<\/p>\n

Araqchi said on US cable news network MS Now that he had a draft counterproposal that could be ready in the next two or three days for top Iranian officials to review, with more US-Iran talks possible in a week or so.<\/p>\n

Military action would complicate efforts to reach a deal, he added.<\/p>\n

After the US and Israel bombed Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities and some military sites in June, Trump again began threatening strikes in January as Tehran crushed widespread protests with deadly force.<\/p>\n

Referring to the crackdown on Friday, Trump said there was a difference between the people of Iran and the country\u2019s leadership. He asserted that \u201c32,000 people were killed over a relatively short period of time\u201d, figures that could not immediately be verified.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very, very, very sad situation,\u201d Trump said, adding that his threats to strike Iran had led the leadership to abandon plans for mass hangings two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were going to hang 837 people. And I gave them the word, if you hang one person, even one person, that you\u2019re going to be hit right then and there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The US-based group Hrana, which monitors the human rights situation in Iran, has recorded 7,114 verified deaths and says it has another 11,700 under review.<\/p>\n

Hours after Trump\u2019s statements on the death toll, Araqchi said the Iranian government had already published a \u201ccomprehensive list\u201d of all 3,117 killed in the unrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone doubts the accuracy of our data, please speak with evidence,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n

Araqchi gave no specific timing as to when Iranians would get their counterproposal to Witkoff and Kushner, but said he believed a diplomatic deal was within reach and could be achieved \u201cin a very short period of time\u201d.<\/p>\n

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reiterated concerns about heightened rhetoric and increased military activities in the region.<\/p>\n

During the Geneva talks, the US did not seek zero uranium enrichment and Iran did not offer to suspend enrichment, Araqchi told MS Now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran\u2019s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that technical and political \u201cconfidence-building measures\u201d would be enacted to ensure the program would remain peaceful in exchange for action on sanctions, without giving further details.<\/p>\n

Asked about Araqchi\u2019s comments, a White House official said: \u201cThe president has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them, and that they cannot enrich uranium.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s foreign minister has said he expects to have a draft counterproposal ready within days after nuclear talks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-494295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}