- “I think they want to meet,” said the American president about Iran’s position.
- Trump thinks that direct discussions are better, but Iran pushes indirect discussions.
- He gave the Iranians the deadline for two months to conclude a new nuclear agreement.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he wanted “direct talks” with Tehran on a nuclear agreement, after threatening to bomb Iran if she develops nuclear weapons.
Trump gave Iran leaders a deadline for two months to conclude an agreement on the country’s nuclear program, which has set out relations with Western nations for decades.
Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denied, insisting that its enrichment activities were only for peaceful purposes.
“I think it’s better if we have direct talks,” he told journalists in the presidential election Air Force One. “I think it goes faster, and you understand much better on the other side than if you go through intermediaries.”
The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, said last week that Tehran would not engage in direct talks with Washington “until there is a change in the approach of the other party towards the Islamic Republic”.
Trump, in his first mandate, waged a 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated by the predecessor Barack Obama and reproduced paralyzing sanctions against Iran.
The agreement, sealed between Tehran and the world powers, had forced Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for relief of sanctions.
“They wanted to use intermediaries. I don’t think it’s necessarily true,” said Trump.
“I think they are worried, I think they feel vulnerable. I don’t want them to feel that way,” he added. “I think they want to meet.”
Trump said last month that he had written to the supreme chief of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to ask for nuclear negotiations and warn of a possible military action if Tehran refused.
Trump gave the Iranians a deadline for two months to conclude a new nuclear agreement.
In response, Tehran only accepted indirect negotiations. He excluded any direct discussion as part of an American “maximum pressure” policy, according to The conversation.
Khamenei replied by saying that American threats “will not make them anywhere” and warned of reciprocal measures “if they do something malfur” against Iran.
Last week, Trump said that “there will be Iran bombings” if he does not drop his efforts to develop nuclear weapons. In recent days, Bombardiers and American B-2 warships have been deployed in the region in a show of force.
