• “I think they want to meet,” the U.S. president said of Iran’s position.
• Trump believes direct negotiations are better, but Iran strives to negotiate indirectly.
• He gave the Iranians a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal.
  

Tehran will not negotiate directly with Washington “until the other party’s attitude towards the Islamic Republic changes”

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he wanted to engage in “direct negotiations” with Tehran after he threatened to bomb Iran if nuclear weapons were developed.

Trump gave Iranian leaders a two-month deadline to reach a deal on the country’s nuclear program, which has been linked to Western countries for decades.

Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, and Tehran has denied nuclear weapons, insisting that its abundance of activities is for peaceful purposes only.

“I think it’s the best,” he told reporters on the presidential plane Air Force One. “I think it’s faster, and you understand a lot better about the other end than you’re going through an intermediary.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week that Tehran would not negotiate directly with Washington “until the other party’s attitude towards the Islamic Republic has changed.”

During his first term, Trump tore up a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by his former Barack Obama and imposed serious sanctions on Iran.

The deal is sealed between Tehran and the world’s powers, requiring Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.

“They want to use intermediaries. I don’t think it’s true anymore,” Trump said.

“I think they’re 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 wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for nuclear negotiations and warned that he might have taken possible military action if Tehran refused.

Trump gave Iranians a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal.

In response, Tehran only agreed to indirect negotiations. It has ruled out any direct negotiations under the U.S. “Maximum Pressure” policy. dialogue.

Khamenei replied that if they do anything malicious to Iran, the U.S. threats would “nowhere to go” and warn of reciprocity measures.

Last week, Trump said that Iran would “bomb” Iran if it did not give up its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. In recent days, U.S. B-2 bombers and warships have been deployed to the region.