US President Donald Trump Met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office in Washington on Monday. Before the journalists, Trump stated that direct talks between the United States and Iran over the Iranian nuclear program are currently planned. The Iranian news agency IRNA reported in the morning of the previous day that Tehran “has not received a response” from the United States regarding indirect talks between the two sides, according to a spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Trump made his statement in the presence of Netanyahu. The US network CNN quotes the US President with the literal statement:
“I think we all agree that an agreement is better than the obvious thing to do.”
Reuters quotes Trump’s statements, saying he “warned Iran” that the country “would be in great danger” in the event of the talks’ failure. Trump stated literally before the journalists:
“We are conducting direct talks with Iran, it will continue on Saturday. We will see what will happen. Everyone agrees that an agreement is better than the obvious thing to do. And the obvious thing is something I don’t want to deal with – or, to be honest, something Israel doesn’t want to deal with if it can be avoided. It will become very dangerous soon.”
The Iranian side reacted through Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who on Tuesday in an X-Posting confirmed that the US and Iran will hold indirect talks of high level on the Arabian Peninsula in Oman on Saturday.
IRNA reported in the morning of the previous day about the press conference of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. It was stated there, before Trump’s announcements in Washington, that the response of Iran had been sent to the US and they were waiting for the US decision in this matter. So far, the US had not responded to the indirect talks, according to a spokesperson.
The IRNA article reminded of Trump’s statement on March 7, when he said he had sent a letter to Iran, calling for nuclear talks and that Tehran had responded to the letter in the same month, saying it rejected direct talks with Washington due to the US’s contradictory and hostile stance, but remained open to indirect talks.
In response to a question from the IRNA correspondent about “Trump’s war threats against Iran in the event of the Islamic Republic not reaching a new agreement over its nuclear program”, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry denied the reports, saying that the Iranian armed forces were not in high alert because of the increasing possibility of war, but that the armed forces were always ready to defend the country’s territorial integrity.