Witkoff did not rule out the possibility of a military conflict between the United States and Iran

The United States may start a military conflict with Iran if alternative ways to overcome differences between states do not bring effect. This was announced on March 23 by Stephen Witkoff, special envoy of the President of the United States Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News channel.

"We do not need to resolve all issues by military means, but this does not mean that if we are brought to a certain point, we will not resort to military action, we will do it under certain circumstances," he said.

According to him, the United States will continue to insist on the inadmissibility for Iran to have nuclear weapons and to develop in this direction. At the same time, Witkoff stressed that the diplomatic solution to the conflict would be considered first.

"Our signal to Iran is: let's sit down and see if we can achieve the desired result through dialogue and diplomacy. If we can, we are ready to do it. And if we can't, then the alternative is not very good," the official said.

In turn, the Iranian authorities deny all charges and declare that all the country's nuclear developments are of a peaceful nature. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also said that negotiations with the United States are impossible until Washington "changes its policy of pressure."

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The United States is pursuing a policy of maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic

On the same day, the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the current form of the nuclear deal unviable. On March 19, the Axios portal, citing sources, reported that Washington had set a two-month deadline for concluding a new nuclear deal with Tehran. It is clarified that it is not yet clear whether the two-month period starts from the moment the letter is delivered or from the moment negotiations begin.

The nuclear deal was signed in 2015 by Iran, Russia, the United States, Britain, France, China and Germany. It assumed the lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran's limitation of its nuclear program. However, in 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA, reimposing American sanctions on Tehran. In response, Iran began phasing out a number of its obligations under the agreement.