Sharon Zhang
Truthout / February 25, 2026
Hours before the SOTU, Iran’s foreign minister said: “Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”
President Donald Trump continued to push for war with Iran during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, falsely asserting that Iranian officials have not disavowed nuclear weapons development.
Trump repeated the claim that his administration “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, adding that Iranian officials are “terrible people” who are “starting it all over.”
“We wiped it out and they want to start it all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions. 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,’” Trump said. “I will never allow [it].”
Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted that their government is only interested in peaceful uses for nuclear enrichment, a stance that they have maintained throughout negotiations.
Indeed, Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi reiterated the government’s position just hours before Trump’s speech in a post on social media.
The White House cites Iran’s nuclear capabilities — while maintaining their nuclear facilities were “obliterated.”
“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,” Araghchi wrote. “A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority.”
The two countries are slated to have indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday. Trump’s State of the Union comments, however, incensed Iranian officials, who called them “big lies.”
“‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’, is a law of propaganda coined by Nazi Joseph Goebbels. This is now systematically used by the U.S. administration and the war profiteers encircling it, particularly the genocidal Israeli regime, to serve their sinister disinformation & misinformation campaign against the Nation of Iran,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei in a statement on X. “No one should be fooled by these prominent untruths.”
Still, Trump is inching closer to war, and lawmakers appear unwilling to stop him.
Following a classified briefing between party leaders and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, top Democrats signalled that the administration is ready for war.
“I’m very concerned,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticutt), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “Wars in the Middle East don’t go well for presidents, for the country, and we have not heard articulated a single good reason for why now is the moment to launch yet another war in the Middle East.”
“This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).
Polls have found that the prospect of a war with Iran is extremely unpopular with the U.S. public. But many Democrats in Congress seem to be in support of a war, and reports say some Democratic leaders are actively pushing against efforts to stop or stymie military action.
Trump’s warmongering remarks earned him a rare bipartisan standing ovation on Tuesday night. It’s unclear how many Democrats stood and clapped, but among them appeared to be even left-leaning figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) as well as the usual suspects like Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania).
Analysts say war with Iran would be utterly disastrous like previous U.S. wars in the Middle East. Even Trump’s top military officials, including Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned of the risks, reports said this week. Notably, military officials present at the State of the Union, including Caine, appeared to not have stood for Trump’s nuclear weapon remark, unlike other many lawmakers in the room.
Such warnings have not deterred Democrats. Capital & Empire reported Tuesday that Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are working to prevent a vote on Representatives Ro Khanna (D-California) and Thomas Massie’s (R-Kentucky) war powers resolution. seeking to get members of Congress on the record on war with Iran.
Meanwhile, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) are only demanding a better justification for war from Trump.
“Part of the concern that I’ve articulated, and will continue to do so, is that the president made the representation that Iran’s nuclear program was completely and totally obliterated last year as a result of actions that the administration has taken,” Jeffries said after the briefing with Rubio. “And so if that, in fact, was true, what is the urgency as of this moment? That’s an open question, and the American people need a real explanation.”
Schumer, a staunch supporter of Israel – which has long sought a U.S.-led war on Iran – has demurred at calls that he take action to prevent a war. When the Trump administration was discussing whether to strike Iran last June, Schumer taunted Trump, calling him “TACO” Trump, referring to an acronym meaning “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labour
