Among the most important foreign policy statements of President Trump’s during his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday night came in discussing his Iran red lines.
“We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’” This ‘challenge’ underscores that at this point it may not matter at all what Iran actually says or does, as Washington is on the war path. See the words of Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi issued before Trump’s speech – he laid out precisely this pledge using the “secret words” several hours before the world knew what Trump would say…
2/4 Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon; neither will we Iranians ever forgo our right to harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology for our people.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) February 24, 2026
The top Iranian diplomat had declared that it was “crystal clear” that “Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon. Araghchi followed with: “We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests. A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” in the statement on X.
Trump during his speech also agreed that his “preference” is “to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran has after the fact slammed Trump’s statements as false, stressing that it has on several occasions very clearly pledged to never purse a bomb. Some pundits are saying Trump’s words were hyperbolic to express a point – that in reality it must be more than just a verbal pledge, as Washington is demanding a comprehensive legal commitment to not build a bomb.
“Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.”
Trump Tuesday night reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program had been ‘obliterated’ – and so it presents the contradiction of the US wanting to once again wipe out a nuclear program which the administration says is actually no longer there.
“We wiped it out and they want to start all over again,” Trump said in the address. “And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions.”
Of the June 2025 US and Israeli attacks on nuclear sites, Trump continued “they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, in particular, nuclear weapons – yet they continue.”
Trump asks of Iran that it must utter the ‘secret words’…
PRESIDENT TRUMP on IRAN: My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will NEVER allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon.
We have to be strong. It’s called peace through strength. pic.twitter.com/0CPKHtvQDt
— Department of State (@StateDept) February 25, 2026
While Iranian officials have this week said they’re willing to do anything for a deal, there’s also a creeping fear in Tehran that if they cede too much, the country’s enemies will smell blood in the water and attack anyway. Iranian leadership fears it’s in a lose-lose situation, and so if attack – however ‘limited’ a strike might be – would feel the need to hit back as hard as possible. This could be a recipe for stumbling into all-out war.
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