TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump’s call for a peace deal with Tehran was inconsistent with Wa­­shington’s actions, referring to its strikes on Iran­ian nuclear sites in June.

“The desire for peace and dialogue expressed by the US president is at odds with the hostile and criminal behaviour of the Uni­ted States towards the Ira­nian people,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Mr Trump can either be a President of Peace or a President of War, but he cannot be both at the same time,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a separate comment on X on Tuesday.

In mid-June, Israel laun­ched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran, striking nuclear and military facilities as well as residential areas and killing more than 1,000 people.

The 12-day war with Israel, during which the US struck the key nuclear facilities in Iran, derailed high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

During a Monday spe­ech at the Israeli Knesset, Trump said he wanted a peace deal with Iran and that the ball was in Teh­ran’s court for any agreement to come to pass.

In its statement, Iran dismissed the call. “How can one attack the residential areas and nuclear facilities of a country in the midst of political negotiations, kill more than 1,000 people including innocent women and children, and then demand peace and friendship?” the foreign ministry asked. “The United States... has no moral authority to accuse othsers,” it said.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2025