Trump announces direct nuclear talks with Iran, Tehran says indirect negotiations
President Donald Trump said Monday the US will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program, while warning the Iranians they would be in “great danger” if the talks don’t succeed in persuading them to abandon their nuclear weapons program. For its part, Tehran confirmed talks would happen but insisted they would be indirect discussions through a mediator.
Trump, in comments to reporters after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu, said the talks will start Saturday. He insisted Tehran can’t get nuclear weapons.
“We’re dealing with them directly and maybe a deal is going to be made,” Trump said. He added that “doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious.”
Asked if he would commit to military action against Iran should his negotiators be unable to come to terms with Tehran, Trump responded, “Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it.”
“If the talks aren’t successful, I think it’s going to be a very bad day for Iran,” Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, writing on the social platform X that is banned in Tehran, insisted the talks would be indirect.
“Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks,” he wrote. “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”
Trump recently sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader, 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said late last month that Iran had rejected Trump’s entreaty while leaving open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.
But Trump has consistently called on Iran, which is the chief sponsor of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi militants in Yemen, to abandon its nuclear program or face a reckoning.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” Trump told NBC News in late March. “It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
Source: France 24
