President Trump recently announced that he would give Iran two weeks to agree to a diplomatic solution on its nuclear program before considering whether or not to join Israel’s campaign against it. On Friday’s edition of NBC Nightly News, Andrea Mitchell platformed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to trash the idea.
During her pre-recorded segment on the latest developments in the war, Mitchell relayed, “Today, in an exclusive interview, Iran's foreign minister calling on President Trump to demand Israel stop its attacks.”
Araghchi was then shown claiming, “What it needs is only a telephone call from Washington to Tel Aviv. To stop everything.”
Mitchell then played several clips of Trump, including one where he responded by claiming, “I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing, but we’re ready, willing, and able, and we have been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens.”
Further along in the report, Mitchell added, “He said he will wait up to two weeks to give diplomacy a chance.”
However, Mitchell sought to portray the idea as doomed to fail, “Tonight Iran's foreign minister tells us they won't resume talking to the U.S. until Israel stops attacking them.”
Asking Araghchi directly, Mitchell wondered, “Can diplomacy produce a solution in two weeks?”
Araghchi tried to put the ball in Trump’s court, “Well, I think it's up to, you know, Americans, the United States, I mean, to show their determination for going for—to negotiate a solution. We have come to the conclusion that negotiations by the U.S. was, in fact, a cover for what Israelis did. So they have perhaps this plan in their mind and just—they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up. We don’t know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was, in fact, a betrayal to diplomacy.”
At some point, it would be nice if these reporters who are able to secure interviews with Iranian officials asked them why they can’t just simply accept the fact that Israel has a right to exist and it isn’t going anywhere. The truth is Iran has played arsonist in the Middle East for years, but after October 7, it lost control and finally burned itself and now, by appearing to reject Trump's overtures, Iran still refuses to put out the fire.
Here is a transcript for the June 20 show:
NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas
6/20/2025
7:03 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Today, in an exclusive interview, Iran's foreign minister calling on President Trump to demand Israel stop its attacks.
ABBAS ARAGHCHI: What it needs is only a telephone call from Washington to Tel Aviv. To stop everything.
MITCHELL: Tonight President Trump responding, saying Israel is winning.
DONALD TRUMP: I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing, but we’re ready, willing, and able, and we have been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens.
MITCHELL: All of it as President Trump again met in the Situation Room as he decides whether to launch a U.S. airstrike on the underground Iranian Fordo nuclear facility. Only the U.S. has the bunker buster bombs capable of destroying it.
TRUMP: Within a matter of weeks or certainly within a matter of months, they were going to be able to have a nuclear weapon. We can't let that happen.
MITCHELL: He said he will wait up to two weeks to give diplomacy a chance.
TRUMP: Just a time to see whether or not people come to their senses.
MITCHELL: Tonight Iran's foreign minister tells us they won't resume talking to the U.S. until Israel stops attacking them.
Can diplomacy produce a solution in two weeks?
ARAGHCHI: Well, I think it's up to, you know, Americans, the United States, I mean, to show their determination for going for — to negotiate a solution. We have come to the conclusion that negotiations by the U.S. was, in fact, a cover for what Israelis did. So they have perhaps this plan in their mind and just — they just needed negotiations perhaps to cover it up. We don’t know how we can trust them anymore. What they did was, in fact, a betrayal to diplomacy.
