Trump says the US will hold direct talks with Iran over its nuclear programme
The US president said Iran will be ‘in great danger’ should talks to curb its nuclear programme fail.
US President Donald Trump has said the US will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear programme.
The president, in comments to reporters after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, said the talks with Tehran would start on Saturday.
He insisted that Tehran cannot get nuclear weapons.
Asked if he would commit to military action against Iran should his negotiators be unable to come to terms with Tehran, Mr Trump responded that “Iran is going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it.”
Mr Trump made the threat in the Oval Office meeting with Mr Netanyahu.
“I think Iran is going to be in great danger” if the talks collapse, Mr Trump said. “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.”
Mr Trump did not disclose the venue for the meetings to begin on Saturday or say who from his administration would participate.
“We’re dealing with them directly and maybe a deal is going to be made,” Mr Trump said.
He added that “doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious”.
Iran’s mission at the United Nations had no immediate comment on Monday.
Mr Trump recently sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader calling for direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said late last month that Iran had rejected Mr Trump’s entreaty while leaving open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.
Mr 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 programme or face a reckoning.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” Mr Trump told NBC News in late March. “It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
Tehran’s chief envoy to the UN, ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, has called on members of the Security Council in a series of letters to condemn Mr Trump’s threats of bombing Iran.
Mr Trump said this week’s talks would happen “at almost the highest level”.
Mr Trump during his first White House term withdrew the US from the landmark nuclear accord with Iran negotiated by Democratic president Barack Obama’s administration.
Mr Netanyahu says he supports Mr Trump’s diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran, adding that Israel and the US share the same goal of ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon.
The Israeli leader, known for his hawkish views on Iran and past calls for military pressure, said he would welcome a diplomatic agreement along the lines of Libya’s deal with the international community in 2003.
“I think that would be a good thing,” he said. “But whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”
He announced plans for the surprise engagement as Mr Netanyahu made a hastily arranged visit to the White House — his second in just over two months — to discuss the tariffs Mr Trump has unleashed on countries around the world, Iran’s nuclear programme and the Israel-Hamas war.
In withdrawing the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Mr Trump declared he was making the world safer, but he also deepened his isolation on the world stage and revived doubts about American credibility.
The agreement, which also included the UK, China, France, Germany and Russia, had lifted most US and international economic sanctions against Iran.
“I think it’ll be, different and maybe a lot stronger,” Mr Trump said on how a new deal might be different from the one negotiated by Obama officials.
