Trump: Iran is seeking to develop missiles capable of hitting America and threatening Europe
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Iran of seeking to develop missiles capable of striking the United States, also claiming its working to rebuild its nuclear program that was targeted by US strikes last year.
The United States and Iran are negotiating on Iran’s nuclear program and other issues including missiles, with Trump saying he prefers diplomatic means but is prepared to use force if talks fail.
“They have already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases abroad, and they are working on building missiles that will soon be able to reach the United States of America,” Trump said in his State of the Union address.
In 2025, the US Defense Intelligence Agency estimated that Iran would be able to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “if Tehran decides to pursue this capability,” but didn’t say whether Iran had made such a decision.
Tehran currently possesses short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with a range of about 3,000 kilometers, according to the US Congressional Research Service.
The United States is more than 9,000 kilometers (9,000 miles) from Iran’s western tip.
Washington and Tehran have concluded two rounds of talks aimed at reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program to replace the one Trump withdrew from during his first term.
In addition to repeatedly calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment, the United States has also sought to put Tehran’s missile program and support for armed groups in the region on the table, which Tehran has rejected.
Iran has consistently denied that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last year, then claiming that Tehran’s nuclear program had been wiped out.
He said on Tuesday that Iran wanted to start over and that it was at this moment again seeking to achieve its evil nuclear ambitions.
Trump has sent a massive military force to the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen warships, as well as a large number of fighter jets and other assets.
It also continues to threaten to resort to a military solution if negotiations fail to reach a new agreement, as talks with Tehran are due to resume on Thursday.
“I prefer to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I’ll never allow the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, which they are by and for the same as they are, to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
He added that he is also working to end the bloody war between Russia and Ukraine, repeating his inaccurate claims that eight wars have ended since returning to office in January 2025.
Trump praised NATO’s decision to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense, a move that was taken under intense pressure from his administration.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed US accusations about the missile program as big lies, hours after President Donald Trump accused Tehran of seeking to build missiles capable of hitting the United States.
“Everything they claim about Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during the January unrest is nothing but a repetition of big lies,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a post on X.
