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The US president has claimed that Washington is holding direct negotiations with Tehran to avoid “doing the obvious”
President Donald Trump has announced that the US will engage in “very high-level talks” with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, warning that if the negotiations fail, the Islamic Republic will face a “very bad day.”
The US president revealed last month that he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proposing new negotiations over the nuclear deal which the US unilaterally abandoned during Trump’s first term in 2018. He went on to threaten Iran with bombing strikes “the likes of which it has never seen” if Tehran rejects the offer.
Sitting alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, Trump stressed his preference for a diplomatic resolution.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” he told reporters. “And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with – or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with, if they can avoid it.”
Tehran has confirmed that indirect talks will take place in Oman on Saturday and reaffirmed its commitment to the course of diplomacy. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied that any direct communications are occurring between the two sides.
“Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court,” Araqchi wrote on X.
Asked to clarify his remarks, Trump said: “We have a very big meeting on Saturday, and we’re dealing with them directly.”
I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger – and I hate to say it, great danger – because they can’t have a nuclear weapon… If the talks aren’t successful, I actually think it’ll be a very bad day for Iran.
The escalating rhetoric comes after years of tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program. During his first presidential term, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an international agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of sanctions.
Following the US withdrawal and reimposition of sanctions, Iran reportedly reduced its compliance with the deal, while insisting that its nuclear program remains peaceful and legal under “international frameworks.”
In a letter to the UN Security Council last week, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani accused the US of committing an “egregious violation of international law” and called Trump’s threats of military action “reckless and belligerent.” President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Monday that Tehran “believe[s] in negotiations, but not abjectly.”
