US President makes claim during press appearance with Israeli PM Netanyahu, but also issues a warning to Tehran.
US President Donald Trump has announced that direct negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have begun, despite Tehran previously rejecting Washington’s calls for talks.
Speaking at the White House on Monday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump stated that discussions were already underway.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll continue on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” he told reporters. “And I think everybody agrees that reaching a deal would be preferable.” He did not provide further details.
Trump also warned that Iran will be in “great danger” if diplomatic efforts to curb its nuclear ambitions fail, emphasizing that Tehran “can’t have nuclear weapons.”
Earlier this month, Trump told NBC News, “if they [Iran] don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.” He added: “It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
‘Meaningless Talks’
Over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the prospect of direct negotiations with the United States on its nuclear program as “meaningless.”
Araghchi’s remarks followed Trump’s letter last month to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in which he expressed hope for negotiations between their countries.
Tehran, which maintains that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, has so far rejected Washington’s overtures but has stated it is open to indirect diplomacy – a stance reiterated by Araghchi in his Sunday statement.
In 2018, during his first presidency, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, which had placed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran insists that its nuclear activities are solely for civilian purposes. Israel, the top US ally in the region, is widely believed to possess an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
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