The US and Iran are in direct talks about Tehran’s nuclear programme, US President Donald Trump said at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, The Times of Israel reports.
“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,” Trump told reporters.
Netanyahu said he and Trump are united in their desire to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “If that can be achieved diplomatically, in full, as was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing,” he said.
Only nuclear deal talks, all other topics do not matter to Tehran
Iran does not intend to discuss any issues not related to the nuclear deal with the United States during the talks, the country’s parliamentary deputy speaker Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee said during a meeting with the head of Oman’s Advisory Council Khaled bin Hilal Al-Maawali on Monday. He said all other topics do not matter to Tehran at the moment.
“The decision to hold indirect talks with the US is a response to the harassment by that country. On the other hand, under the current circumstances, we are ready to negotiate only on the nuclear programme, and the rest is irrelevant,” Babaee said.
Trump has spoken of seeking a new nuclear deal after the start of his second term as president. In late March, he threatened a military strike and tariffs if Tehran did not agree to a deal within two months.
In early April, the Daily Mail, citing Israeli sources, reported that the US and Israel could strike Iran in a few weeks. According to one of the publication’s interlocutors, the decision is linked to Tehran’s progress in its nuclear programme: the Iranians are closer to obtaining nuclear weapons than would be “comfortable” for other countries.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a speech in parliament that Tehran is ready for dialogue with Washington if it is an equal conversation. “If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?” – he asked.
Iran on high alert
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has put the country’s armed forces on high alert amid fears of a US attack, Reuters reported on April 6, citing a senior Iranian official. Iran also warned Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Turkey, UAE and Bahrain that it would consider any support for a US attack, including allowing the use of those countries’ airspace, to be a hostile act, he said.
The Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is a document that was signed in 2015 between Iran on one side and China, Russia, the US, Britain, France and Germany on the other.
According to the document, in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, Iran limits its nuclear programme, ruling out the development of nuclear weapons.
In 2018, the US under the first term of President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed new sanctions on Iran, a year later Tehran suspended its obligations under the deal.
Previous failed attempts of talks
The last known direct talks between the US and Iran were under the administration of President Barack Obama. The two governments held indirect talks during Joe Biden’s presidency, but they made little progress.
During a February phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump asked that Russia mediate talks with Iran over the country’s nuclear programme. A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, when asked if Russia had offered mediation, said it was “natural” for countries to offer their assistance.
